OPENING TIP: Dixie State (12-5/9-2 PacWest) begins a five-game homestand, which will be spread over a four-week period, this Saturday night, Jan. 21, with a Pacific West Conference showdown vs. Azusa Pacific (10-10/5-5 PacWest) in the Burns Arena at 7:30 p.m.
The Trailblazers enter Saturday's game winners of seven of their last eight games after splitting a pair of PacWest road tilts last weekend in southern California, while the Cougars have won two-straight and six of their last nine overall.
WEEK IN REVIEW: Dixie State saw its season-high six-game winning streak stopped after a 68-64 road loss at Point Loma this past Saturday afternoon in San Diego. However the Trailblazers managed to bounce back with a hard-fought 67-64 victory at Concordia-Irvine last Monday night, as DSU erased a 10-point second half deficit to earn the road split.
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 owns a 5-4 overall series edge vs. Azusa Pacific, however APU has won the last four games in the series, including a 104-103 overtime home win in Azusa earlier this season (12/10/16). In that game, Dixie State saw a nine-point lead evaporate over the final two minutes of regulation, while the Cougars did just enough in the extra five minutes to come away with the victory.
DSU is 3-1 vs. APU inside the Burns Arena, though Azusa Pacific claimed a 72-65 triumph in its last visit to St. George on Dec. 19, 2015.
REGIONAL RANKINGS: Dixie State remained in the No. 7 slot in the latest D2SIDA West Region top-10 poll, which was released on Monday prior to DSU's game at CUI. California Baptist (16-1/8-1 PacWest) remained on top in the region rankings, while fellow PacWest member Hawai'i Pacific (17-1/9-1 PacWest) is ranked fifth in the poll. One interesting note, five of the 14 opponents Dixie State has faced to this point of the season are currently ranked or had received votes in this week's region poll.
COACHING STAFF: Five-time PacWest Conference Coach of the Year
Jon Judkins (Utah State, 1988; 498-234 career record) is in his 12th season on the Dixie State bench, where he has compiled a 214-106 overall record, including a 194-94 mark during DSU's NCAA Division II era, and a 131-38 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 is in his fourth season as assistant coach, and
Kevin Williamson (University of Great Falls, 2007) who is in his second season on the Trailblazer sideline.
INCHING CLOSER TO 500/200/300: Head Coach
Jon Judkins is inching closer to two more career milestones as the Trailblazers head into the stretch run in the 2016-17 season. Entering play this weekend, Judkins stands just two coaching victories shy of 500 for his career (498-233), including 194 NCAA Division II coaching victories, leaving him needing six more for 200 NCAA-era wins.
In addition, the Dixie State program is 10 games away from playing in its 300th NCAA game, and could reach that milestone in its opening game of the PacWest tournament in March. In addition, DSU is five wins away from reaching the 200-win plateau in its 10-plus seasons of NCAA membership. Overall DSU has played to a 195-95 (.672) 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 73-10 (.879) 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 SoCal road split last weekend, Dixie State moved to 97-74 (.567) away from home in its Division II era under Head Coach
Jon Judkins, including a 6-5 record this season (6-3 road/0-2 neutral), and a 9-6 mark in 2015-16. Overall, the Trailblazers have played to a 77-56 record (.579) 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 58-28 (.674) road record in its nine-plus seasons of PacWest league membership (5-2 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: Dixie State has played in 17 games so far this season and 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 70-straight games and in 193 of its last 194 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 287 of the program's 290 games since the beginning of the 2006-07 season.
The current streak almost came to a halt at California Baptist (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 has seen 15 of its 17 games to this point of the season decided by eight points or less, including the first 12 games of the year and both games on the SoCal road swing last weekend ... the other two games, both of which resulted in DSU victories, were decided by nearly 20 points, including a 73-48 road win at NDNU (1/7) and a 78-59 home triumph vs. Dominican (1/11).
DSU has shot 50 percent or better in seven of its last 12 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), though DSU struggled from the field in both games last weekend (41.0% at PLNU; 38.2% at CUI) ... for the season Dixie State is shooting 45.5 percent from the floor (.304 3FG), while DSU is
ranked 16th-nationally in field-goal percentage defense at 40.0 percent (.316 3FG -
#32-nationally).
While DSU's field goal shooting has been solid, the free throw shooting has not as the Trailblazers are just 65.1 percent from the line this season (329-of-505), 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 (1/11), and 22-of-29 (.759) at CUI last Monday ... Dixie State enters this weekend ranked
THIRD-NATIONALLY in free throw attempts (505) and
13th in the country in free throws made (329).
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 65.1 percent clip at the line is five 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 (1/11).
DSU posted defensive season-highs of nine steals and eight blocks vs. Dominican (1/11), 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 has averaged 15.0 points 6.3 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 2.0 blocks and 1.7 steals over his last three games, including 16 points, six boards, three assists and a career-high tying three blocks at CUI last Monday.
Hill, who currently leads the team in scoring (14.8 ppg, 14th PWC), rebounding (7.1 rpg, T-6th PWC) and assists (5.4 apg, 2nd PWC), moved into first place on DSU's career FTA list with 446 in just 72 games ... In addition, Hill enters this week third all-time in career FT made (287), fourth in steals (87), fifth in rebounds (346) and assists (230), sixth in blocks (40), eighth PPG (11.6), points (834) and made FGs (262), and ninth in FG attempts (571) ... 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.
Simister enters the week fourth on the team in scoring at 11.7 ppg - 12.8 ppg in PacWest play, and has scored in double figures in seven of his last nine 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 (55; 3.2 apg) and is averaging 3.1 dimes a game over his last seven starts.
Sophomore forward
Quincy Mathews (St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS) just missed his third double-double of the year after he tallied eight points and eight rebounds at Point Loma (1/14) ... Mathews, who scored 10 points in 19 reserve minutes in the Dominican win (1/11), is averaging 8.2 ppg and 5.9 rpg in 12 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 11 games and has made the most of it as he has averaged 9.4 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 7.8 points and 3.1 rebounds.
Sophomore F/C
Austin Montgomery (Gainesville, Ga./Lakeview Academy) has started in the six games and is averaging 7.3 points and 6.0 rebounds in those outings ... Montgomery scored nine points and pulled down a career-high tying eight boards vs. Dominican (1/11) and tallied a career-high 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting with six caroms at Academy of Art (1/5) ... Montgomery played a career-high 21 minutes at Point Loma (1/14) and responded with eight points and eight boards ... Montgomery has also showed some range as he has connected on 2-of-3 from the perimeter, including a first-half 3-pointer at CUI last Monday.
The DSU bench has averaged 24.1 points over the last six games, including 30 reserve points in the Dominican win (1/11) ... in addition to Mathews, Bradley (5.9 ppg/2.9 rpg) has anchored the bench effort as he has averaged 7.8 points over the last six 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 ... Bradley also pulled down a career-high nine rebound and had six points in a career-high 24 minutes in the win at CUI (1/16) ... 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 (1/11) 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 at Point Loma (1/14) as he hit his only shot attempt for two points and pulled down a career-high three rebounds in just three minutes of play.
Overall the Trailblazer bench is averaging 20.7 ppg through the first 17 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 AZUSA PACIFIC "COUGARS": Azusa Pacific enters Saturday's game looking push its winning streak to three games after claiming home wins over Academy of Art (78-71; 1/14) and Point Loma (81-74; 1/16) last weekend. Junior forward
Petar Kutlesic leads the Cougars in scoring and rebounding at 15.1 ppg and 8.3 rpg. APU is averaging 76.5 ppg on 44.0 percent shooting while allowing 76.1 ppg.
UP NEXT: Dixie State continues its homestand next Saturday, Jan. 28, with date vs. Hawai'i Hilo in the Burns Arena at 7:30 p.m.
