(2017 PACWEST TOURNAMENT BRACKET - PDF)

OPENING TIP: Dixie State (19-7/16-4 PacWest) will play for its second conference postseason tournament title in five years as the Trailblazers travel to Irvine, Calif., for the 2017 Pacific West Conference Basketball Tournament. The tournament will be played in the CU Arena on the campus of Concordia University Irvine.
    DSU enters the field as the No. 3 seed and will face No. 6 seed Point Loma (15-12/11-9 PacWest) in Thursday's first quarterfinal game at 2:45 p.m. (PT), with the winner advancing to face No. 2 seed California Baptist (25-3/17-3 PacWest) in the first semifinal game on Friday at 2:45 p.m. (PT). DSU and Point Loma each defended their home courts this season, with DSU claiming a 83-80 overtime win in the Burns Arena (12/19), while the Sea Lions posted a 68-64 home win in San Diego last January 14.
    PacWest regular season champion and tourney top-seed Hawai'i Pacific (26-2/18-2 PacWest) will play the winner of Thursday's other quarterfinal game (7:15 p.m. PT) between No. 4 Chaminade (17-10/13-7 PacWest) and No. 5 Azusa Pacific (16-14/11-9 PacWest) in the second semifinal game on Friday at 7:15 p.m. (PT).
    The two semifinal winners will then square off for the tournament title on Saturday, March 4, at 4:30 p.m. (PT), with the winner earning the PacWest's automatic bid to the 2017 NCAA Tournament West Regional, which will be held March 10-13.

DIXIE STATE ON THE AIR: Dixie State's PacWest Tournament run 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 DSU Associate Athletic Director Derek Dawes providing color analysis. In addition, live-streaming audio is available on the internet at www.southernutahlive.com. The Pacific West Conference will also provide a live video stream of all tournament games online at portal.stretchinternet.com/pacwest.

PACWEST TITLE GAME ON ESPN3: Earlier this week the Pacific West Conference announced that Saturday's men's and women's tournament championship games will be broadcast live on ESPN3. The two games will also be available on the WatchESPN and the ESPN app for tablets and mobile devices.

WEEK IN REVIEW: Dixie State closed out the 2016-17 regular season with a convincing 78-60 home victory over Holy Names on Senior Night Saturday in the Burns Arena. The Trailblazers used a 19-3 second-half run to turn an early one-point deficit into a 16-point lead as DSU cruised to the win.

COACHING STAFF: Five-time PacWest Conference Coach of the Year Jon Judkins (Utah State, 1988; 505-236 career record) is in his 12th season on the Dixie State bench, where he has compiled a 221-108 overall record, including a 201-96 mark during DSU's NCAA Division II era, and a 138-40 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.

DIXIE STATE AT THE PACWEST TOURNAMENT: Dixie State is 2-3 all-time in four previous trips to the PacWest postseason tournament. This year marks the second time that DSU enters as the No. 3-seed and will play in the quarterfinals.
    DSU won the inaugural tourney title as the top-seed in 2013 with a semifinal victory over BYU-H (71-59) and a 92-80 triumph vs. Chaminade in the championship game. In 2014, DSU entered the tournament as the No. 3 seed and was defeated by Hawai'i Pacific in the quarterfinal round, 71-65. DSU was also the top-seed in the 2015 tourney, but BYU-H handed DSU a 98-75 defeat in the semifinal. Last season the Trailblazers entered the tourney as the No. 2 seed but was knocked off by eventual tourney champion No. 3 CBU, 90-73.
    One other interesting PacWest Tournament note - since Dixie State won the first league tourney title as the top-seed in 2013, the last three tournament champions have each played in the quarterfinals (No. 5 Chaminade in 2014; No. 4 BYU-H in 2015; No. 3 CBU in 2016).

ONE MORE MILESTONE REMAINS: In a season of milestones, Dixie State will pass one more on Thursday as Dixie State will play in its 300th NCAA game when it takes the court vs. PLNU in Irvine. Overall DSU has played to a 202-97 (.675) record since making the move to NCAA competition at the start of the 2006-07 season.
    Head Coach Jon Judkins clinched his 500th-career victory in DSU's 81-72 win over Hawai'i Hilo (1/28) in Burns Arena. The long-time Dixie State mentor also reached another milestone as he picked up his 200th NCAA-era victory in DSU's 80-75 win at BYU-Hawaii (2/18).  
    In addition, the DSU's win over Hawai'i Hilo (1/28) was the program's 100th home NCAA-era victory, and DSU claimed its 200th NCAA-era victory in the Trailblazers' 98-65 win at Hilo (2/16).

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: Dixie State clinched its 10th-straight home winning season record after posting an 11-1 mark inside the Burns Arena this season.
    Since becoming an NCAA Division II program in 2006-07, Dixie State has played to a 103-22 (.824) overall record inside the Burns Arena under Head Coach Jon Judkins, and posted seven 10-plus win seasons over that span, including a perfect 12-0 record in 2009-10, and an 11-1 mark in the 2015-16 campaign. Despite the home loss to CBU (2/11), the Trailblazers are dominant in PacWest action, playing to a 78-11 (.876) record at home through 10 full seasons of conference play.

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 its 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?: Dixie State is 99-75 (.569) away from home in its Division II era under Head Coach Jon Judkins, including an 8-6 record this season (8-4 road/0-2 neutral), and a 9-6 mark in 2015-16. Overall, the Trailblazers have played to a 79-57 record (.580) in true road games, and a 20-18 mark (.526) in neutral site games during Judkins' tenure.
    DSU has now won eight or more games away from home in eight- straight seasons, and in nine of its 11 D-II campaigns overall, including a program-best 15-5 record (10-2 in road contests) in 2010-11.
    Dixie State also owns a 60-29 (.674) road record in its nine-plus seasons of PacWest league membership (7-3 this season). The Trailblazers have now posted a winning conference road mark in eight-straight seasons and have reached the seven-win plateau in six of their last seven league campaigns overall.

FREE BASKETBALL: Dixie State played in a school-record five overtime games this season, though all of those instances happened in the 2016 portion of the schedule, including DSU's OT home victory over Point Loma this past Dec. 19, which marked the last DSU OT game. 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 299 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 saw its streak of hitting at least one 3-pointer halted at 76 games after the Trailblazers went 0-of-7 from beyond the arc in the win at BYU-Hawaii (2/18). DSU, which had hit a season-high nine 3-pointers at Hawai'i Hilo (2/16) two nights earlier, came back to hit four treys in the loss at HPU (2/20) and connected for seven more 3-pointers in the regular season finale vs. Holy Names (2/25).
    Prior to the BYU-H game, the last time Dixie State went without hitting a 3-pointer was at home vs. Western Oregon (11/25/14) in the second game of the 2014-15 season, which snapped a program-best 127-game streak that 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.
    In all, Dixie State has hit at least one three pointer in 201 of its last 203 games overall, and in 295 of the program's 299 games NCAA-era games since the beginning of the 2006-07 season.
    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.

TRAILBLAZERS PICK UP THREE PACWEST POSTSEASON AWARDS: Dixie State landed three players on the 2016-17 All-Pacific West Conference Men's Basketball Team, as announced on Wednesday by the conference office based on voting by the league's head coaches. Junior guard Trevor Hill (Sandy, Utah/Alta HS) earned first team all-PacWest honors, while junior guards Brandon Simister (St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS) and Kyler Nielson (Cedar City, Utah/Cedar HS) were honorable mention picks.
    Hill, who was also a 2015-16 second team and 2016-17 preseason All-PacWest selection, started in all 26 games and is DSU's leading scorer (14.2 ppg; 16th PWC) and rebounder (7.1 rpg; T6th PWC). Hill scored in double figures in a team high 19 of 26 games and led the Trailblazers in scoring in 10 games. Hill poured in a season-high 26 points at NDNU (1/7) and tallied 25 points at APU (12/10), and finished the season scoring in double figures in seven-straight and in 11 of his final 12 regular season games overall.
    Hill also leads the team in assists (129) and steals (39) and is second in blocks (25), and finished the regular season ranked eighth-nationally in FTA. He led DSU in rebounding 10 times and posted a team-high four double-doubles. In addition, Hill was named PacWest Player of the Week (11/21) and Defender of the Week (2/20).  
    Simister started in all 26 regular season games and is second among every game players (fourth overall) in scoring (11.6 ppg) and second in assists (3.4 apg). He led DSU in scoring seven times and had scored in double figures in 17 of 26 games played, including a season-high 23 points at APU (12/10) and 21 points vs. Point Loma (12/19). Simister has hit three or more 3-pointers nine times, including a career-high tying five treys twice against Cal Poly Pomona (11/12) and at APU (12/10). He also led the team in assists nine times and dished out a career-high eight assists in a home win over defending NCAA West Region champ Western Oregon (11/26).
    Nielson (9.0 ppg; 2.9 rpg) has played in all 26 games and has started the last 17 overall. He has averaged 11.0 ppg since becoming a starter and has led DSU in scoring three times with nine double-figure scoring outings, including a career-high 20 points at Azusa Pacific (12/10) and 19 points vs. California Baptist (2/11). Nielson enjoyed his finest outing of the year at Hawai'i Hilo (2/16) as he went 6-for-6 with four 3-pointers and was 2-of-2 at the line to tally 18 points in a DSU win.

TEAM NOTES: Dixie State saw 18 of its 26 regular season games decided by nine points or less, including the first 12 games of the year ... DSU enjoyed its most lopsided win of the year with its 36-point win over Chaminade (2/4), which included season highs in first half points (51), points in regulation (102), 3FG% (8-of-13, .615) and assists (22), while five Trailblazers scored in double figures overall ... DSU followed that up two games later with a 33-point triumph at Hawai'i Hilo (2/16), during which a season-high six Trailblazers scored in double figures ... in fact, it was the first time in nearly THREE FULL SEASONS that at least six players scored in double figures ... the last time that feat was accomplished was in a 106-100 home overtime win vs. California Baptist on March 1, 2014.
    DSU has shot 50 percent or better in 11 of its last 21 games overall, including a season-best 56.7 percent effort (34-of-60) in the regular season finale vs. Holy Names (2/25) and a 56.5 percent clip (26-of-46) in the home win over Hilo (1/28) ... for the season Dixie State is shooting 46.2 percent from the floor (.325 3FG), while DSU is ranked THIRD-NATIONALLY in field-goal percentage defense at 39.1 percent (.318 3FG - #21-nationally).
    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 (492-of-763), including season lows in makes (3), attempts (7) and percentage (.429) vs. HNU (2/25) and 44.4 percent (12-of-27) in the loss at HPU (2/20), while the Sharks connected on a DSU opponent season-high 94.7 percent (18-of-19) from the stripe ... however the good news is that Dixie State is getting to the line and the team enters this weekend ranked 9th-nationally in free throw attempts (763) and 42nd in free throws made (492).
    DSU's current 64.5 percent clip at the line is more than five points lower than its program-low 70.2 season percentage set in the 2011-12 campaign.
    Dixie State tied a school record with a season-low four turnovers vs. California Baptist (2/11), which helped offset a school record 31 turnovers set vs. Concordia-Irvine (12/3), which eclipsed the previous mark of 30 set on the road at Metropolitan State University of Denver (12/6/08) during the 2008-09 season.
    The Trailblazers pulled down a school-record 61 rebounds vs. BYU-Hawaii (2/2), which bested the previous record of 57 rebounds set 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) ... DSU is also ranked 5th-nationally in defensive rebounds at 30.31 rpg.
    Hill, who is DSU's career leader in FTM (317) and FTA (501), enters this week third all-time in career assists (270), fourth in steals (101), rebounds (411) and blocks (49), sixth in points (952) and FG attempts (664), seventh in made FGs (303), and eighth in PPG (11.7).
    Simister enters the week third on DSU's career 3FG percentage list (.433), but he did fall to second on the career FT% list (.854), while he is fifth in career 3FG makes (98) and eighth in career assists (204).
    After missing the last 14 games due to injury, senior forward Josh Fuller (Rexburg, Idaho/Madison HS) returned to the Trailblazer line-up for Senior Day in last Saturday's win over HNU ... Fuller started and made the most of his two minutes of game action as he hit both of his shot attempts and finished with four points and one rebound ... before the injury Fuller averaged 13.2 ppg and 6.4 rpg, including a pair of 17-point outings at APU (12/10) and in the win over Point Loma (12/19) ... 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 (12.4 ppg/5.9 rpg) has scored in double figures in seven of his 12 starts on the year overall and leads the team in FG% (.610).
    Senior forward Marcus Bradley (Anaheim, Calif./Corona del Mar HS) was inserted into the DSU starting line-up nine games ago and the senior has paid immediate dividends as he has averaged 13.3 points on 58.0 percent shooting and 6.7 rebounds over that stretch ... Bradley averaged 17.3 ppg during DSU's Hawaiian road swing, including a 19-point night at BYU-H (2/18) and 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting at HPU (2/25) ... Bradley posted his first double-double of the year with career highs of 23 points and 15 rebounds in the home win over BYU-H (2/2) and followed that up with 16 points in just 16 minutes vs. Chaminade (2/4) ... Bradley has also averaged 2.2 blocks in those nine games, including a career-best four vs. Hilo (1/28).
    Junior forward Zac Hunter (American Fork, Utah/American Fork HS) enjoyed his finest night in a DSU uniform vs. Chaminade (2/4) as he poured in a career-high 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting to lead five Trailblazers in double figures in the lopsided win ... Hunter scored 15 of those points in the opening frame and accounted for 13 of the team's 26 points on its decisive first-half run ... Hunter's 19 points eclipsed his previous career-high of 18 points set two games earlier vs. Hilo (1/28), which also came on 7-of-11 shooting.
    Junior forward Quincy Mathews (St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS) posted his third double-double of the year with 13 points and 10 rebounds in the win at Hilo (2/16) ... Mathews, who is averaging 7.6 ppg and 5.7 rpg in 20 games this season, 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).
    Sophomore forward Dub Price (Draper, Utah/Alta HS) pulled down a career-high 11 rebounds (eight on the defensive glass) to go with three points, three assists and a block in the win at Hilo (2/16) ... Price tied his career-high with nine points off the bench at home vs. Hilo (1/28), which marked the third time this season he just missed scoring in double figures ... he tallied nine points in the road win at CBU (12/8) and did it again at home vs. APU (1/21).
    Sophomore F/C Austin Montgomery (Gainesville, Ga./Lakeview Academy) tallied a career-high 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting in 14 reserve minutes at home vs. BYU-H (2/2) ... he followed that up with a career-high tying eight rebounds, including four offensive boards, and six points two nights later vs. Chaminade (2/4).
    Junior guard Daylor Youngblood (South Jordan, Utah/Bingham HS) had a night to remember as he recorded his first double-digit scoring night as a Trailblazer with a career-high 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting, including 3-of-3 from the perimeter, vs. Chaminade (2/4) ... you knew it would be his night as he banked in his first three points at the halftime buzzer ... he then hit two more 3-pointers in the second half and finished with career-highs of four rebounds, three assists and two steals in 13 minutes off the bench.  
    Over the last 14 games, the DSU bench has averaged 22.6 points, including 43 reserve points in the win over Holy Names (2/25) and 31 bench points in the road win at Hilo (2/16) ... in fact, all 12 Trailblazers who played in the Holy Names game had at least two points and one rebound.
    Overall the Trailblazer bench is averaging 21.1 ppg through 26 games this season, though the unit was held to a season-low six points in the home loss to CBU (2/11), and to just nine points at HPU (2/20) ... DSU tallied a season-high 46 bench points vs. Central Washington (11/18), with Bradley (14 pts) and sophomore guard Brandon Miller (Sandy, Utah/Brighton HS) (16 pts) accounting for 30 of those 46 points.

UP NEXT: The winner of the PacWest Men's Basketball Tournament will earn the conference's automatic bid to the 2017 NCAA Tournament West Regionals, which will be held March 10-13 (site TBA). The 2017 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament Selection Show will be broadcast live on NCAA.com this Sunday, March 5, at 8:30 p.m. (MT).