Game Notes: DIXIE STATE - PDF | CPP
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OPENING TIP: Dixie State (0-0/0-0 RMAC) opens the 2018-19 regular season on Saturday night as the Trailblazers plays host to Cal Poly Pomona (1-0) inside the Burns Arena. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m.

THE SERIES: Dixie State enters Saturday's game vs. CPP looking for its first-ever win in the series (0-5), and this will be the first time in the series that the Trailblazers and Broncos will have squared off in St. George. Four of the previous five meetings between the two sides have come on a neutral court, three of which were in NCAA West Regional tournament games (2010 Regional - 71-62; 3/12/10; 2014 Regional - 73-65; 3/14/14, and 2015 Regional - 62-60; 3/13/15).
    The two other occasions came during early season CCAA/PacWest Challenge games, including last season in Pomona, where DSU suffered a 2OT loss at CPP, 79-75.

DIXIE STATE ON THE AIR: All Dixie State's home games will be broadcast live on DSU's campus radio station, 91.3 KXDS-FM, with DSU Assistant Media Relations Coordinator Keric Seegmiller calling the play-by-play action and former DSU assistant Mike Olson coach providing color commentary. Along with the radio coverage, all DSU home games are simulcast on KCEC-TV (TDS Cable Channel 22), with tape-delay rebroadcasts throughout the following week. In addition live-streaming audio and video, and live statistics, for all home and away games are available on the internet HERE.

COACHING STAFF: Six-time PacWest Conference Coach of the Year Jon Judkins (Utah State, 1988; 528-245 career record) begins his 14th season on the Dixie State bench, where he has compiled a 244-117 overall record, including a 224-105 mark during DSU's NCAA Division II era.
    Judkins has led the Trailblazers to 10-straight winning seasons with seven 20-win campaigns, which includes a school-record 23 victories last season, and 22 wins during both the 2010-11 and 2012-13 seasons. He has also guided DSU to six PacWest championships, including four-straight titles from 2009-13 and two more crowns last season and in 2014-15, along with PacWest Tournament titles in 2013 and 2018. In addition, Judkins has led Dixie State to eight trips to the NCAA Tournament in the last nine seasons overall from 2010-18, advancing all the way to the "Sweet 16" in the 2011 West Regional final.
    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 again this season by former DSU player and sixth-year assistant coach Kasey Winters (Dixie State, 2008), along with former DSU standout guard Jeremiah Barnes (Dixie State, 2011), who is in his second season on the DSU sideline, and second-year volunteer assistant coach David Foster (Utah, 2013).

528 AND COUNTING: Head Coach Jon Judkins became the first men's basketball coach in Utah collegiate basketball history to reach the 500-win plateau when Dixie State defeated Hawai'i Hilo (81-72) back on January 28, 2017.
    Coach Judkins is currently ranked second all-time in coaching victories in Utah college basketball history behind legendary University of Utah head women's coach Elaine Elliott, who amassed 582 career wins (582-234) in 27 seasons on the Utes' sideline.

TRAILBLAZERS PICKED FOURTH IN THE RMAC: Dixie State was voted to finish fourth in the 2018-19 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference men's basketball preseason coaches' poll released on Oct. 23. The Trailblazers, who will make their RMAC debut this season, return five letter winners and three redshirts from last season's school-record breaking (23 wins) and Pacific West Conference championship team.
    Defending RMAC tournament champion Regis received eight out of a possible 16 first-place votes to claim the top spot in the poll with 216 points, while Colorado School of Mines collected four first-place nods and 203 points to finish second in the poll. Fort Lewis, which won the 2017-18 RMAC regular season crown, picked up two first-place votes to finish third with 199 points, followed by DSU in fourth with two first-place votes and 185 points, MSU Denver (156 pts) in fifth, Westminster College (141 pts) in sixth, Colorado-Colorado Springs (147 pts) in seventh, and Black Hills State (116 pts) in eighth to round out the top-half of the 16-team poll.

MEET THE 2018-19 TRAILBLAZERS: Dixie State enters the 2018-19 season with a lot of unknowns as the Trailblazers graduated six seniors, including all five starters, from last season's record-breaking 23-7 team that swept both the PacWest regular season and tournament titles in its final season in that conference.
    DSU returns five letter winners – all seniors – and three redshirts from last year's squad, including forwards Julien Ducree (Jr., 6-8, 240; Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Rancho Cucamonga HS/CS Monterey Bay, 2017-18 - 5.3 ppg/3.9 rpg), Quincy Mathews (6-7, 205; St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS, 2017-18 - 4.5 ppg/3.2 rpg), Austin Montgomery (6-8, 210; Lilburn, Ga./Lakeview Academy/Utah, 2017-18 - 5.9 ppg/3.0 rpg), Dub Price (6-7, 215; Draper, Utah/Alta HS, 2017-18 - 5.5 ppg/3.8 rpg), and guard Wade Miller (F, 6-3, 210; Tremonton, Utah/Bear River HS/Umpqua CC, 2017-18 - 3.8 ppg/1.5 ppg).
    In addition, redshirt sophomore guard Zach Frampton (6-3, 185; Highland, Utah/Lone Peak HS/BYU) returns after missing most of last season due to injury, along with redshirt freshmen John Gremillion (Fr., F, 6-7, 207; Sandy, Utah/Brighton HS) and Josh Newbold (Fr., F, 6-7, 215/South Jordan, Utah/Bingham HS).   
    Dixie State also welcomes 10 new players to his program for this upcoming 2018-19 campaign, including four four-year transfers in junior forwards Cameron Chatwin (6-9, 215; Mesa, Ariz./Desert Ridge HS) from Saint Martin's and Matt Conway (6-7, 215; Chandler, Ariz./Pleasant Grove [UT] HS/Salt Lake CC) from the University of Albany, along with Weber State transfers in sophomore guard Riley Court (6-4, 192; Pleasant Grove, Utah/Pleasant Grove HS) and sophomore forward Eric Patten (6-6, 230; La Crescenta, Calif./Crescenta HS/Cuyamuca CC).
    In addition, this year's squad features three junior college transfers in guards Jack Pagenkopf (Jr., 6-3, 185; Brooklyn, NY/Blue Valley HS/Howard College), Andre Wilson (Jr., 6-3, 200; Moreno Valley, Calif./Patriot HS/Riverside CC) and Dason Youngblood (So., 6-2, 190; South Jordan, Utah/Bingham HS/Skagit Valley CC). DSU also has three redshirt freshmen in camp, including forwards Jacob Nicolds (6-5, 210; Gilbert, Ariz./Gilbert HS) and Clayton Southwick (6-7, 220; Palmer, Alaska/Palmer HS), and guard Jason Andersen (6-0, 175; Logan, Utah/Logan HS).

"WE'RE GOING STREAKING!": Dixie State closed the 2017-18 regular season with a 15-game winning streak, and when you figure in the Trailblazers' PacWest tourney run, DSU pushed it to 17-straight games before its NCAA West Regional first round loss to Azusa Pacific (65-69; 3/9/18). The 17-game streak was the longest streak in the program's NCAA era, eclipsing the previous record streak of 13 games in 2011-12.

AGAINST NON-CONFERENCE OPPONENTS: DSU is 69-63 (.522) all-time against non-conference opponents in its 12 seasons of four-year competition, which includes an 11-14 record in the program's first year of NCAA play (2006-07), and a combined 6-12 postseason record (4-4 PacWest, 2-8 NCAA).
    DSU (5-4 in 2017-18) has posted six overall season-winning records in non-conference games over that span, including a program-best nine wins in 2010-11 (9-4), eight wins in 2008-09 (8-7), and seven victories in 2012-13 (7-4).

AGAINST THE CCAA: Dixie State is 8-15 (.348) all-time vs. CCAA-member programs, including a 2-5 mark in its last seven games against that league overall.

IT'S NOT HOW YOU START....: Dixie State is 6-6 all-time in season openers during the program's Division II era and has won four of its last six, and six of its previous 10 overall. The Trailblazers will look to halt a brief two-game losing skid in season openers, including last year's loss at CPP, while Saturday's opener will mark the eighth time in 10 seasons that DSU will open the season inside the Burns Arena. 

HOME SWEET HOME: Dixie State enters Saturday's home opener vs. Cal Poly Pomona 9-3 all-time in its previous 12 Burns Arena debuts as a four-year program and has won six-straight home openers overall, including a 74-62 win over Academy of Art in last season's home opener (12/2/17).  
    Dixie State put a bow on its 2017-18 home slate with a 9-1 record - all of which came in PacWest play, and in the process, recorded its 11th-straight home winning season record in the program's four-year era.
    Since becoming an NCAA Division II program in 2006-07, Dixie State has played to a 112-23 (.829) overall record inside the Burns Arena under Head Coach Jon Judkins, and has posted seven 10-plus win seasons over that span, including a perfect 12-0 record in 2009-10, and 11-1 records in the 2015-16 and 2016-17 campaigns.
    The Trailblazers also closed out their PacWest membership with a dominant 87-12 (.878) record at home in 99 home conference games played over 11 seasons.

HOME SWEET HOME, PART 2: For the ninth-straight year, Dixie State University's men's basketball program finished ranked in the top-10 nationally at the NCAA Division II level in attendance for the 2017-18 season.
    The Trailblazers posted the ninth-highest total attendance number in the country at 26,309 fans in just 10 home dates, which was also second in the Pacific West Conference and the NCAA West Region. In addition, DSU finished second-nationally in season attendance average at 2,630 fans per game, behind only Northern (SD) State, which led the nation in both total attendance (55,980/15 games) and attendance average (3,732).
    Since the 2008-09 season, Dixie State has been annually ranked in the top-15 in Division II in attendance, including second-overall in 2012-13 and 2013-14, and third in the country in 2010-11 and 2011-12 campaigns. DSU was also ranked fourth-overall last year, fifth in 2014-15, sixth in 2015-16, ninth in 2009-10, and 14th in 2008-09.
    Dixie State also finished sixth among Utah's eight NCAA member institutions in average attendance in 2017-18, behind Brigham Young (227,692/14,230 per game), Utah (199,077/11,710), Utah State (104,159/6,943), Weber State (101,683/6,778) and Utah Valley (58,027/3,413). However, DSU did finish well ahead of Southern Utah (33,518/2,394) and Westminster College (4,345/289).

HOW ABOUT WHEN THE BAGS ARE PACKED?: The Trailblazers were a combined 14-6 as road warriors last season, including a 10-4 road mark to go with a 4-2 record in neutral-site games.
    Dixie State is 113-83 (.576) away from home in its Division II era under Head Coach Jon Judkins, including an 8-8 record in 2016-17 (8-5 road/0-3 neutral), and a 9-6 mark in 2015-16. Overall, the Trailblazers have played to a 89-62 record (.589) in true road games, and a 24-21 mark (.533) in neutral site games during Judkins' tenure.
    In addition, DSU has won eight or more games away from home in nine-straight seasons, and in 10 of its 12 D-II campaigns overall, including a program-best 15-5 record (10-2 in road contests) in 2010-11.
    Dixie State also finished with a 69-30 (.697) road record in its 11 seasons of PacWest league membership (9-1 this season/7-3 in 2016-17). Overall, the Trailblazers have posted a winning conference road mark in nine-straight seasons and have reached the seven-win plateau in seven of their last eight league campaigns.

FAREWELL TO THE PACWEST: The Trailblazers ended their 11 years of PacWest membership as the conference's all-time winningest program with 156 conference wins (156-42) and a .788 league winning percentage. In addition, DSU's 18 wins in PacWest play this year were not only the most in program history, the win total also tied the conference all-time season record for wins (Hawai'i Pacific in 2017; CBU in 2014).

FROM WAY DOWNTOWN....BANG: Dating back to late in the 2016-17 season, Dixie State has hit at least one 3-pointer in 34-straight games, including a season-high 11 treys in a win over Holy Names (2/19) last year. In fact. DSU hit of 11-of-21 (.524) from downtown vs. the Hawks, while the 21 attempts vs. HNU were the second-most last season (22 vs. Dickinson State, 11/25).
    In all, Dixie State has hit at least one three pointer in 233 of its last 235 games overall, and in 327 of the program's 331 games NCAA-era games since the beginning of the 2006-07 season.
    Dixie State has reached double-figures in made 3-pointers 13 times overall, and prior to the HNU win last month, the last occasion happened at Chaminade (10 3FGM, 1/23/16), while the single-game 3FGM school record is 13 set at Carroll College on Nov. 11, 2008.

DUNK YOU VERY MUCH: Dixie State combined to throw down 51 dunks in 30 games last season, this after finishing with 30 dunks in 28 games in 2016-17, and 32 total throw-downs in the 2015-16 campaign.
    In all, seven Trailblazers "rocked the rim" last year, led by DSU All-American and PacWest Player/Defender of the Year Trevor Hill with 23 dunks, including "highlight reel" steal and breakaway dunk in the Holy Names win (2/19), which was ranked No. 8 on ESPN SportsCenter's Top-10 Plays of the Day.

2017-18 TEAM NOTE RECAP:
* - Dixie State brings a 15-game regular season winning streak into its season opener vs. CPP on Saturday ... 12 of DSU's 15-straight regular season victories were by double figures, highlighted by the 34-point win vs. Hilo (99-65; 2/10), which was DSU's most lopsided last season ... the Trailblazers' average margin of victory over the win streak is 15.5 ppg.
* - Dixie State became the first PacWest program to sweep both the PacWest regular season and tournament titles for a second time last season to close out its league membership … DSU also achieved that feat in 2013, which was the first season the PacWest postseason tournament was held.
* - DSU was also the first two-time winner of the PacWest postseason tournament.
* - Dixie State broke a school single-game record with a program-low three total turnovers in the loss at California Baptist (12/16) ... the previous program low was four, first set vs. Notre Dame de Namur (1/25/10), and was tied last season at home vs. CBU (2/11/17).
* - In all, DSU posted single-digit turnovers numbers in nine games last season, including all three match-ups vs. CBU.
* - Dating back to the 2016-17 season, Dixie State has had 34 of its last 57 games decided by nine points or less, including 14 of 30 games last year.
* - DSU's 99 points vs. Hilo (2/10) also tied a season-high, the first occasion came in the 99-89 OT win vs. Eastern New Mexico (11/17).  
* - Also dating back to 2016-17, Dixie State has shot 50 percent or better in 19 of its last 52 games overall ... in fact, five of DSU's top-six shooting performances last season came in victories ON THE ROAD, including a 2017-18 season-best 57.8 percent (26-of-45) at Concordia-Irvine (12/18).
* - In all, DSU shot 50 percent or better eight times last season, with seven of those occasions coming on the road.
* - Dixie State pulled down a school record with 62 rebounds in the loss at Cal Poly Pomona (11/10), which bested the previous school record of 61 set last season vs. BYU-Hawaii (2/2/17).
* - The Trailblazers won the "Battle of the Boards" in 24 of 30 games last season to finish with a +6.1 rebounding margin.

2018-19 EXHIBITION OPENER RECAP: Dixie State opened the 2018-19 exhibition season with an 88-70 loss at in-state Division-I foe Utah Valley this past Oct. 30, at the UCCU Center.
    The Trailblazers hung with their Division I counterparts for most of the first half and enjoyed an early 9-8 lead five minutes into play. The Wolverines would quickly erase the deficit with a 15-4 to vault to a 23-13 advantage midway through the frame. Dixie State managed to stay within striking distance and would find itself trailing by just four points at 39-35 at the intermission.
    However the second half was all Wolverines as UVU opened the stanza with a 23-6 run to open up a 62-43 lead, then put the game away with a decisive 15-5 spurt to extend to a 81-56 bulge with just under six minutes to play.
    Junior guard Jack Pagenkopf led the Trailblazers with 16 points on 3-of-3 shooting with one 3-pointer and a 9-of-13 effort at the foul line, while senior Dub Price tallied 12 points on 4-of-6 from the floor. Dixie State shot 40.4 percent (19-of-47) from the floor, including a 43.8 clip (7-of-16) from the perimeter, and the Trailblazers were outrebounded by a 35-28 count.

ABOUT THE CAL POLY POMONA "BRONCOS": Cal Poly Pomona opened the 2018-19 season with a convincing 91-61 home victory over Saint Katherine's this past Wednesday night. Four players scored in double figures, led by junior guard William Christmas, who went for 17 points on 8-of-12 shooting with 10 rebounds. CPP shot 52.1 percent and outrebounded SKU by a 60-27 count.

UP NEXT: The Trailblazers continue their season-opening homestand next weekend as they host the 2018 Dixie State/Red Lion Thanksgiving Classic Nov. 23-24 in the Burns Arena. DSU will open the tourney against former PacWest rival Academy of Art on Friday, Nov. 23, at 7:30 p.m., followed by a match-up vs. Western Oregon on Saturday, Nov. 24, at 7:30 p.m.
    In addition to the DSU games, Western Oregon will play Westminster College in the first game of the Classic on Friday at 5 p.m., while Academy of Art and Westminster will square off in game three on Saturday at 5 p.m.