OPENING TIP: Dixie State (11-4/8-1 PacWest) heads out on its penultimate road trip of the 2016-17 regular season this weekend as the Pacific West Conference leading Trailblazers travel to southern California for a pair of crucial league games. DSU opens the trip on Saturday, Jan. 14, in San Diego with a match-up at Point Loma (9-6/5-3 PacWest) beginning at 4 p.m. (PT), then travels north up the I-5 to Irvine to square off with Concordia-Irvine (9-6/5-3 PacWest) on Monday night, Jan. 16, at 7:30 p.m. (PT).
WEEK IN REVIEW: Dixie State picked up its sixth-straight win (11th win in the last 12 games overall) and moved to 8-1 in PacWest play with a convincing 78-59 victory over Dominican University this past Wednesday night in the Burns Arena. The Trailblazers used an 18-2 run over the final eight minutes of the first half to turn a 21-16 deficit into a 34-23 halftime lead. DSU led the entire second half and outscored the Penguins 18-7 in the game's final five minutes to coast home with the win.
DIXIE STATE ON THE AIR: All Dixie State home and away games will be broadcast live on ESPN Radio 97.7 FM, with DSU Assistant Media Relations Coordinator
Keric Seegmiller calling the play-by-play action, along with Devin Dixon providing color analysis for all home games. All DSU home games are also televised live on KCEC-TV (TDS Cable Channel 22) with a simulcast feed from ESPN Radio, with tape-delay rebroadcasts throughout the following week. In addition live-streaming audio and video (home games only) are available on the internet at
www.southernutahlive.com.
THE SERIES: Dixie State is 7-2 all-time against Point Loma, including a hard-fought 83-80 overtime triumph in the Burns Arena earlier this season (12/19/16). The Trailblazers are 3-1 vs. the Sea Lions on the road in San Diego and have claimed victory in their last two visits to the Golden Gymnasium overall (54-49 in 2014-15; 66-65 in 2015-16).
DSU owns a 3-0 edge in its brief series vs. Concordia-Irvine, which includes an 82-76 overtime win in the Burns Arena last month (12/3/16). In fact, all three games in this series have been decided in overtime, including an 82-67 home victory over the Eagles in last year's regular season finale (2/27/16), which helped DSU secure part of a four-way tie for first place in the PacWest standings with CUI, APU and California Baptist. The Trailblazers also claimed the first-ever meeting between the two programs, 81-80 in 2OT (1/9/16) in Irvine.
REGIONAL RANKINGS: Dixie State's current run vaulted the Trailblazers up two spots to No. 7 in the latest D2SIDA West Region top-10 poll. California Baptist (13-1/5-1 PacWest) remained on top in the region rankings, while fellow PacWest member Hawai'i Pacific (13-1/5-1 PacWest) is ranked sixth in the poll. One interesting note, four of the 13 opponents Dixie State has faced to this point of the season are currently ranked in this week's region poll.
COACHING STAFF: Five-time PacWest Conference Coach of the Year
Jon Judkins (Utah State, 1988; 497-233 career record) is in his 12th season on the Dixie State bench, where he has compiled a 213-105 overall record, including a 193-93 mark during DSU's NCAA Division II era, and a 130-37 record in PacWest play.
Last season, Judkins led Dixie State to an 18-9 overall record and a 15-5 PacWest mark, which was good for a t-first place finish in the league standings. In 2014-15, Judkins led DSU to a 20-8 record, including the program's fifth Pacific West title in six years with a 17-3 league mark, and DSU's sixth trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Prior to his arrival at Dixie State, Judkins served as head coach at Snow College for 12 full seasons and posted a 284-128 overall record. He led the Badgers to a pair of Scenic West Athletic Conference titles in 1999 and 2000, which earned him SWAC Coach of the Year honors. Judkins played for one season at Dixie State before transferring to Utah State, where he became the first (and only) Aggie to post a triple-double. During the 1987-88 season, he helped lead the Aggies to the PCAA title and an NCAA Tournament bid.
Judkins is joined on the bench by former DSU player
Kasey Winters (Dixie State, 2008), who begins his fourth season as assistant coach, and
Kevin Williamson (University of Great Falls, 2007) who starts his second season on the Trailblazer sideline.
INCHING CLOSER TO 500/200: Head Coach
Jon Judkins is inching closer to two more career milestones as the Trailblazers head into the second half of the 2016-17 season. Entering play this weekend, Judkins stands just three coaching victories shy of 500 for his career (497-232), including 193 NCAA Division II coaching victories, leaving him needing seven more for 200 NCAA-era wins.
In addition, the Dixie State program is six wins away from reaching the 200-win plateau in its 10-plus seasons of NCAA membership. Overall DSU has played to a 194-94 (.673) record since making the move to four-year competition at the start of the 2006-07 season.
TRAILBLAZERS PICKED THIRD IN THE PACWEST: Dixie State was picked to finish third in the 2016-17 Pacific West Conference preseason coaches' poll released on October 26. Defending PacWest tournament champion California Baptist received six first place votes and 179 total points in being tabbed as the PacWest preseason favorite, while defending regular-season champ Azusa Pacific collected five first-place nods to place second with 171 points.
DSU did not received a first-place vote in taking third with 161 points, followed by Concordia-Irvine (156, one first place vote) in fourth, Point Loma (140, one first place vote) in fifth, Chaminade (129) in sixth and Hawai'i Pacific (118) in seventh to round out the top-half of the poll.
Dixie State junior guard
Trevor Hill (Sandy, Utah/Alta HS) was named to the PacWest Preseason all-Conference team, while CBU senior guard Michael Smith was named the PacWest Preseason Player of the Year.
AGAINST NON-CONFERENCE OPPONENTS: Dixie State closed the non-conference portion of its 2016-17 slate at 3-3 and moved to 57-52 (.523) overall against non-PacWest opponents. Since joining the PacWest in the 2007-08 season, DSU is 46-38 (.547) against non-conference foes, while during DSU's first season of four-year competition in 2006-07, Dixie State recorded an 11-14 record as an independent.
DSU has posted five winning records in non-conference games over the past eight seasons, including a program-best 6-1 mark in 2013-14, and an 8-3 record in 2010-11.
HOME SWEET HOME: Since becoming an NCAA Division II program in 2006-07, Dixie State has played to a 98-21 (.823) record inside the Burns Arena under Head Coach
Jon Judkins, which includes a 6-0 mark this year. DSU has posted six 10-plus win seasons over that span, including a perfect 12-0 record in 2009-10, and an 11-1 mark last season. In PacWest play, the Trailblazers are a dominant 72-10 (.878) at home through its now nine-plus seasons of conference play.
Last season Dixie State clinched its ninth-straight home winning record after DSU won its final six home games to finish with a 9-3 mark.
HOME SWEET HOME, PART 2: For the sixth-straight year, Dixie State finished a season ranked in the top-six nationally in home attendance. In 2015-16, DSU recorded the sixth-highest home attendance average in Division II at 2,190 fans per game for 12 home dates last season, which was also tops in the PacWest Conference. In all, a total of 26,284 fans attended a DSU game inside the Burns Arena.
Since the 2008-09 season, Dixie State has been annually ranked in the top-15 in Division II in attendance, including being ranked #2-overall in 2012-13 and 2013-14, and #3 in the country in 2010-11 and 2011-12 campaigns. DSU was also ranked fifth in 2014-15, ninth in 2009-10, and 14th in 2008-09.
Dixie State also finished sixth among Utah's other NCAA (Division I) members in average attendance in 2015-16, behind Brigham Young (14,699), Utah (12,997), Utah State (8,874), Weber State (6,785) and Utah Valley (2,383).
HOW ABOUT WHEN THE BAGS ARE PACKED?: With its NorCal road sweep earlier this month, Dixie State improved to 96-73 (.568) away from home in its Division II era under Head Coach
Jon Judkins, including a 5-4 record this season (5-2 road/0-2 neutral), and a 9-6 mark in 2015-16. Overall, the Trailblazers have played to a 76-55 record (.580) in true road games, and a 20-18 mark (.526) in neutral site games during Judkins' tenure.
DSU has won eight or more games away from home in seven- straight seasons, and in eight of its 10 D-II campaigns overall, including a program-best 15-5 record (10-2 in road contests) in 2010-11.
Dixie State also owns a 57-27 (.678) road record in its nine-plus seasons of PacWest league membership (3-1 this season). The Trailblazers have posted a winning conference road mark in seven-straight seasons and have reached the seven-win plateau in five of their last six league campaigns overall.
FREE BASKETBALL: We are just past the midway point of the 2016-17 season (15 games) and Dixie State has already had a school-record five of those contests go into overtime, including DSU's OT home victory over Point Loma this past Dec. 19. DSU is 3-2 in overtime games this season, 2-1 in PacWest play, including a 104-103 loss at APU (12/10/16), and the Trailblazers' 82-76 overtime home win over Concordia-Irvine (12/3/16).
DSU also split a pair of overtime games at the Seattle Pacific tournament (11/18-19), which marked just the second time in the program's NCAA Division II era that the Trailblazers needed overtime in consecutive games to decide the outcome, though it was the first time in 10-plus seasons that DSU played two overtime games on back-to-back nights.
In the 2010-11 season, DSU played consecutive overtime games, both of which were double-overtime affairs, at BYU-Hawaii (W, 99-96 - 2/26/11) and at Hawai'i Pacific (L, 88-93 - 2/28/11), however there was a day off between those contests.
Dixie State's five overtime games this year eclipsed the previous program-high of four set in the 2013-14 season and tied for the first time last year.
In all, Dixie State has played in just 25 overtime games (15-10 overall) in 284 total contests in the program's NCAA Division II era. Three of those 25 games have gone to double-overtime, including the two Hawaiian results in 2010-11, and an 81-80 2OT victory at Concordia-Irvine last season (1/9/16).
FROM WAY DOWN TOWN....BANG!: Dixie State has hit at least one 3-pointer in 68-straight games and in 191 of its last 192 games overall, including a season-high eight treys vs. Sonoma State (11/25). In fact in DSU's Division II era, the Trailblazers have made at least one 3-pointer in 285 of the program's 288 games since the beginning of the 2006-07 season.
The current streak almost came to a halt at CBU (Dec. 8) as the Trailblazers went the first 30 minutes without a trey before
Dub Price (Draper, Utah/Alta HS) connected on his first-career 3-pointer with 9:45 to play, which capped a 9-0 DSU run that gave DSU the lead for good. DSU hit six 3-pointers in the OT loss at APU (12/10), including a career-high tying five treys off the hot shooting hand of
Brandon Simister (St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS).
In the 2014-15 season, the Trailblazers saw their program-best 127-game streak stopped at home vs. Western Oregon (11/25/14) in the second game of the 2014-15 season. That streak encompassed four full seasons and the final 13 games of the 2009-10 campaign. The other two times DSU failed to connect from the perimeter happened on the road at Academy of Art (1/16/10), and at Notre Dame de Namur (2/2/08) during the program's first year of PacWest play.
Dixie State has reached double-figures in made 3-pointers 12 times, including a 2015-16 season-high 10 treys at Chaminade (1/23/16), and a school-record 13 3-pointers at Carroll College on Nov. 11, 2008.
TEAM NOTES: Dixie State saw its streak of 12-straight games decided by eight points or less to open the season halted in a big way when the Trailblazers posted a 73-48 victory at Academy of Art (1/5) ... in all, 13 of DSU's 15 games to this point of the season have been decided by eight points or less, including the 77-72 win at NDNU (1/7) to close out the NorCal trip (1/7), while the home win over Dominican last Wednesday marked DSU's largest margin of victory inside the Burns Arena this season.
DSU has shot 50 percent or better in seven of its last 10 games overall, including a season-best 54.5 percent (36-of-66) at Azusa Pacific (12/10) and a 54.0 percent clip (27-of-50) at NDNU (1/7) ... for the season Dixie State is shooting 46.3 percent from the floor (.308 3FG), while the DSU defense has held opponents to a 40.0 percent clip (.312 3FG).
While DSU's field goal shooting has been solid, the free throw shooting has not as the Trailblazers are just 64.5 percent from the line this season (296-of-459), though DSU did hit on 23-of-28 (.821) at the charity stripe (10-of-10 in the second half) in the win over Dominican last Wednesday ... DSU survived a school-record 19 missed free throws in the win at Fresno Pacific (1/3), only to bounce back with a season-high 85.7 percent outing (12-of-14) in the win at AAU (1/5) ... DSU's current 64.5 percent clip at the line is nearly six points lower than its program-low 70.2 season percentage set in the 2011-12 campaign.
DSU's school record 31 turnovers vs. Concordia-Irvine (12/3) eclipsed the previous mark of 30 set on the road at Metropolitan State University of Denver (12/6/08) during the 2008-09 season ... on the flipside, DSU committed a season-low eight turnovers in the win over Dominican last Wednesday.
DSU posted defensive season-highs of nine steals and eight blocks vs. Dominican, including three blocks apiece for junior guard
Trevor Hill (Sandy, Utah/Alta HS) and senior forward
Marcus Bradley (Anaheim, Calif./Corona del Mar HS), which were career-highs for both players ... the eight blocks just missed tying the school record of nine set twice at home vs. Fresno Pacific (2/5) and BYU-Hawaii (2/23) during the 2012-13 season.
The Trailblazers pulled down a season-high 56 rebounds vs. CUI (12/3), which was the second-highest single game total in program history, and was the most since DSU had 55 boards at Point Loma nearly a year-to-the-day (12/5/15) ... The DSU team single-game school record for rebounds is 57, which happened twice in the 2013-14 season - both at home vs. Academy of Art (1/30/14) and again vs. Hawai'i Hilo (2/13/14).
Hill continues to fill up the stat sheet as he makes his way up the DSU career records lists ... after being held to just 15 combined points at FPU/AAU, Hill went off for a season-high 26 points, including 14 in the second half, in the come-from-behind win at NDNU (1/7) ... Hill accounted for 17 of DSU's final 18 points down the stretch, scoring 10 points while assisting on three more scores, to help lead DSU to the win ... Hill followed that up with 15 points, six boards, four assists, three blocks and two steals in the Dominican win.
Hill, who currently leads the team in scoring (14.8 ppg, 15th PWC), rebounding (7.1 rpg, 6th PWC) and assists (5.4 apg, T-1st PWC), moved into first place on DSU's career FTA list with 431 in just 70 games ... In addition, Hill enters this week fourth all-time in career FT made (279), fifth in steals (84), sixth in assists (222) and blocks (37), seventh in rebounds (333), eighth PPG (11.5) and points (804), and ninth in made FGs (252) and FG attempts (546) ... Hill was named PacWest POW after he averaged 21.5 points, 12.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists in the Trailblazers' split at the SPU tourney Nov. 18-19.
Senior forward
Josh Fuller (Rexburg, Idaho/Madison HS) has averaged 15.3 ppg over his last three games, including a pair of 17-point outings at APU (12/10) and in the win over Point Loma (12/19) ... Fuller connected on 66.7 percent (18-of-27) of his shots over that stretch, including a 5-for-7 effort vs. NDNU (12 pts; 12/17), and on 6-of-9 from the floor vs. PLNU ... however the news is not all good as Fuller, who is third on DSU's career FG% list (.579), may miss the next 6-8 weeks due to a foot injury ... earlier this season Fuller became the first Trailblazer in three-plus seasons to score at least 30 points in a game, doing so in the win over Western Oregon (11/26) ... former DSU player
Steven Larson was the last to top the 30-point plateau with 33 pts in a 66-61 win at Notre Dame de Namur (2/16/13) ... Fuller has scored in double figures in seven of his 11 starts this season and he leads the team in FG% (.602; 3rd PWC), is second in scoring (13.2 ppg) and is third in rebounding (6.4 rpg).
Simister enters the week third on the team in scoring at 12.5 ppg - 14.3 ppg in PacWest play, and has scored in double figures in seven-straight starts overall, including a season-high 23 points at APU (12/10) and a 21-point night in the Point Loma win (12/19) ... Simister hit 7-of-10 from the floor with a career-high tying five 3-pointers in the APU game, while his 23 points at APU was one-point shy of tying his career-high of 24 set last season in a win at Chaminade (1/23/16) ... Simister is second on the team in assists (47; 3.1 apg) and is averaging 2.9 dimes a game over his last seven starts.
Sophomore forward
Quincy Mathews (St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS) returned to game action during DSU's homestand after missing the last five games due to injury ... Mathews bounced back from a tough outing at NDNU (2 pts, 12/17) with a 12-point night on 6-of-9 shooting with four rebounds, two assists and two steals in 32 minutes off the bench in the win over PLNU (12/19) ... Mathews, who scored 10 points in 19 reserve minutes in the Dominican win, is averaging 8.3 ppg and 5.8 rpg in 10 games this season ... Mathews earned CCAA/PacWest Challenge All-Tourney team honors after he posted his first two collegiate double-doubles to open the 2016-17 season ... Mathews tallied 10 points and a career-high 11 rebounds at UC San Diego (11/11), and followed that up with a career-high 15 points and 10 boards vs. Cal Poly Pomona (11/12).
Junior guard
Kyler Nielson (Cedar City, Utah/Cedar HS) has started in the last nine games and has made the most of it as he has averaged 10.2 ppg during this current stretch, including a 13-point night at FPU (1/3) ... Nielson poured in a career-high 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting with two rebounds, and a career-best two blocks in 37 minutes at APU (12/10), which came on the heels of a 14-point night on 6-of-11 from the floor in the win at CBU (12/8) ... Nielson made his first collegiate start in the win over Concordia-Irvine (12/3) as he responded with 13 points and a career-high eight rebounds ... he scored six of his 13 points in the overtime period and connected on 7-of-9 from the foul line on the night ... Nielson enters the weekend averaging 7.9 points and 3.1 rebounds.
Sophomore F/C
Austin Montgomery (Gainesville, Ga./Lakeview Academy) has started in the four games and is averaging 7.2 points and 6.5 rebounds in those four outings ... Montgomery scored nine points and pulled down a career-high tying eight boards in the Dominican and tallied a career-high 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting with six caroms at Academy of Art (1/5).
The DSU bench has averaged 26.7 points over the last four games, including 30 reserve points in the Dominican win ... in addition to Mathews, Bradley (5.9 ppg/2.5 rpg) has anchored the bench effort as he has averaged 8.7 points over the last four games, including eight points vs. Dominican, nine points at FPU, followed by an 11-point effort on 5-of-7 shooting at AAU, and seven points at NDNU ... sophomore forward
Wade Miller (Tremonton, Utah/Bear River HS) made his Trailblazer debut at FPU (1/3) and wasted little time getting into the scoring column as he hit the first shot he took, a 3-pointer en route to a four-point night ... Miller repeated the feat in his first home appearance of the year in the closing moments vs. Dominican as he connected on his only shot of the night - a 3-pointer ... not to be outdone, junior forward
Kyle Bingham (Mesa, Ariz./Mountain View HS) made his season debut at AAU (1/5) and he poured in four points on 2-of-2 shooting with two rebounds in 10 minutes of action ... Bingham also got into the act in the Dominican win as he tallied two points and one rebound in two minutes in his home debut.
Overall the Trailblazer bench is averaging 20.8 ppg through the first 15 games, including a season-high 46 bench points vs. Central Washington (11/18) ... Bradley (14 pts) and sophomore guard
Brandon Miller (Sandy, Utah/Brighton HS) (16 pts) accounted for 30 of the 46 points.
ABOUT THE POINT LOMA "SEA LIONS": Point Loma enters Saturday's game having won four-straight and five of its last six, with the lone loss in that stretch coming in the Burns Arena back on Dec. 19 (DSU 83, PLNU 80 in OT).
Sophomore point guard
Josh Rodriguez leads the Sea Lions in scoring (17.4 ppg) and assists (5.4 apg), while junior center
Vince Boumann is PLNU's second-leading scorer (13.4 ppg) and leading rebounder (8.5 rpg). Point Loma is averaging 76.3 ppg on 45.2 percent shooting while allowing 74.6 ppg.
ABOUT THE CONCORDIA-IRVINE "EAGLES": Concordia, which plays at California Baptist on Saturday before the DSU match-up, enters the weekend winners of two-straight and five of its last six overall.
The Eagles boast three players averaging double figures, led by senior guard
Justin Davis at 12.3 ppg, while sophomore guard
Brian Chamber (11.8 ppg) and senior guard
Case Bruton (10.3) help complement a balanced CUI scoring attack. Concordia is averaging 78.3 ppg on 47.1 percent shooting while allowing 71.6 ppg.
UP NEXT: Dixie State returns home for a five-game homestand, which will be spread over a four-week period, beginning with match-up against Azusa Pacific in the Burns Arena on Saturday, Jan. 21, at 7:30 p.m.
