Game Notes: DIXIE STATE - PDF | CMU | WCU
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OPENING TIP: Dixie State (7-8/5-6 RMAC) begins the second half of 2018-19 RMAC season this weekend as the Trailblazers head back to Colorado to close out its current four-game conference road swing. DSU will travel to Grand Junction to play at Colorado Mesa (12-5/7-4 RMAC) on Friday night at 7:30 p.m., before wrapping up the trip in Gunnison against Western Colorado (3-14/0-11 RMAC) on Saturday night at 7 p.m.

THE SERIES: Dixie State and Colorado Mesa have split the first eight meetings between the two sides in a series that began in DSU first season of NCAA play in 2006-07, when CMU posted a 63-60 home win (11/24/06). The Trailblazers have won three of the last four games in the series, though the two teams have not met since DSU claimed an 85-81 win in the Burns Arena during the 2013-14 campaign (11/8/13). DSU is 1-4 all-time inside Brownson Arena, with the lone victory coming in the 2010-11 season (67-63; 11/26/11).
    DSU is 2-0 all-time vs. Western Colorado, however the Blazers and Mountaineers have not squared off since the 2010-11 season when DSU recorded a 65-58 neutral site win in Grand Junction (11/26/10). Dixie State also posted a 78-63 home win over WCU to begin the 2010 calendar year (1/2/10).

DIXIE STATE ON THE AIR: All Dixie State home games are 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 coach Mike Olson 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.

LAST TIME OUT: Dixie State kicked off its longest road trip of the RMAC season in grand style as the Trailblazers swept through the Denver metroplex last weekend. DSU opened the trip with its most lopsided victory of the season in an 84-48 romp at Colorado Christian last Friday night in Lakewood. The Blazers bolted out of the gates with a 21-3 start and never looked back en route to their 36-point win.
    DSU then made the short drive to the Mile High City to take on defending RMAC champion Regis and after jumping out to a quick 12-4 lead, the Trailblazers saw the Rangers erase the deficit to take a 42-36 halftime advantage. Regis extended that lead to double figures early in the second half, but Dixie State managed to chip away and would retake the lead for good with under three minutes to play and escape with a 76-73 win to snap the Rangers' five-game winning streak.

COACHING STAFF: Six-time PacWest Conference Coach of the Year Jon Judkins (Utah State, 1988; 535-253 career record) is in his 14th season on the Dixie State bench, where he has compiled a 251-125 overall record, including a 231-113 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 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).

535 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 third 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. Meanwhile, current Salt Lake CC head women's basketball coach Betsy Specketer is second all-time with 537 career victories (537-193) in 22-plus seasons on the Bruins' bench.

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 made their RMAC debut earlier this month at Westminster College, received two first place votes and 185 points in the poll.  
    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, MSU Denver (156 pts) in fifth, Westminster (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. 

AGAINST THE RMAC: Prior to its RMAC debut at Westminster College this past Dec. 1, Dixie State had squared off against nine of the 15 member schools in non-conference action and played to a 13-14 (.481) overall non-conference record in 27 combined games. Out of those nine schools, the Trailblazers have faced Colorado Mesa (eight times) the most of any other RMAC school and have posted a 4-4 mark against the Mavericks overall.

RARE AIR: Saturday's game at Western Colorado will mark the second time this season that the Trailblazers will have played a game above 7,200 feet above sea level. Western's Paul Wright Gym is ranked as the highest NCAA athletic venue in the nation at 7,723 feet.
    DSU has already played in highest Division I athletic facility this season, that being Wyoming's Arena-Auditorium (7,220), and will play at Adams State's Plachy Hall Gym (7,543) on Feb. 16. In all, nine of DSU's 13 road games this season have been, or will have been played, above 5,280 feet, with five of those locations listed over 6,000 feet in elevation.

HOME SWEET HOME: Since becoming an NCAA Division II program in 2006-07, Dixie State has played to a 116-26 (.817) overall record inside the Burns Arena under Head Coach Jon Judkins, which includes a 4-3 (2-2 RMAC) mark this year. DSU has posted seven 10-plus win seasons over that span, highlighted by a perfect 12-0 record in 2009-10, and 11-1 records in the 2015-16 and 2016-17 campaigns.
    Dixie State played to a 9-1 home record last season - 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.
    The Trailblazers 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'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).

HOME SWEET HOME, PART 3: Dixie State played in front of a season-high 4,257 fans in its 69-38 victory over MSU Denver inside the Burns Arena this past Jan. 11. The announced crowd was the fifth-highest Dixie State home game attendance number in the program's NCAA era and the sixth-highest attended regular season game overall.
    The school record for home attendance is 4,602 set against BYU-Hawaii during the 2012-13 season (2/23/13), while the most fans to see a DSU regular season contest came in a road game at Utah (9,616) on Jan. 9, 2008. 

HOW ABOUT WHEN THE BAGS ARE PACKED?: Dixie State is currently 116-88 (.568) in 204 games away from home in its Division II era under Head Coach Jon Judkins. Overall, the Trailblazers have played to a 92-67 record (.578) in true road games, and a 24-21 mark (.533) in neutral site games during Judkins' tenure.
    The Trailblazers, who are 3-5 on the road this season, 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. 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 last season/7-3 in 2016-17).

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 last 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; California Baptist in 2014).

RELEASE...ROTATION...SPLASH: Dating back to late in the 2016-17 season, Dixie State has hit at least one 3-pointer in 49-straight games, including a season-high seven trifectas on five different occasions, including seven treys at CCU last Friday.
    In all, Dixie State has hit at least one three pointer in 248 of its last 250 games overall, and in 342 of the program's 346 NCAA-era games since the beginning of the 2006-07 season.
    Dixie State has reached double-figures in made 3-pointers 13 times overall, the last occasion happened vs. Holy Names (11 3FGM, 2/19/18), while the single-game 3FGM school record is 13 set at Carroll College on Nov. 11, 2008.

FROM WAY DOWNTOWN....BANG: Also of note, the Trailblazers attempted 19 3-point shots at Westminster College (12/1), while the Griffins took 18 shots from beyond the arc. That slim stat "victory" for the Trailblazers broke a string of 101-straight games that saw DSU opponents attempt more 3-points shots in a game.
    That feat was achieved again two weeks ago vs. Chadron State (1/12), when DSU attempted 18 3FG, while the Eagles were credited with 16 3-point shots. Including the Chadron game, Dixie State opponents have taken more 3-point shots all but five games since the 2012-13 season (181 games) and in 306 of DSU's 346 games in the program's NCAA era.

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."
    It took nearly five full games, but DSU finally recorded its first dunk of the year in the closing moments of DSU's win at South Dakota Mines (12/7) when Jack Pagenkopf picked off his second steal of the night and was credited with a breakaway dunk to seal the Blazer win. In all, DSU has 12 dunks this season, the last came on a Jacob Nicolds jam late in the Blazers' win at CCU last Friday. Julien Ducree leads the with eight throw-downs, all of which have come over Dixie State's last 10 games.

DEFENSE (CLAP CLAP) DEFENSE: Dixie State enjoyed arguably its finest overall defensive performance in program history in its 31-point win over MSU Denver back on Jan. 11. DSU held the Roadrunners to opponent single-game record lows of 11 made field goals and a 21.2 percent field goal percentage (11-of-52), which included a 6-of-28 (.214) clip in the first half and a 5-of-24 (.208) effort in the second half.
    Prior to that, the previous record low for opponent made field goals was 15 set four different times, with the last occasion coming during the 2016-17 season (at Academy of Art, 1/5/17), while the Roadrunners' shooting percentage eclipsed the previous DSU opponent record low of 23.8 percent posted by Pacifica College (15-of-63) in a 110-41 Dixie State win during the 2010-11 season (12/4/10).
    In addition, the 38 points surrendered also broke Dixie State's NCAA-era opponent single game low of 40 points set in an 84-40 home win over Dominican University on Feb. 11, 2010.

TEAM NOTES:
* - Matt Conway posted arguably his best two-game stretch of the RMAC season last weekend at CCU/Regis after he averaged 21.5 points and 7.0 rebounds, while shooting a combined 73.7 percent from the floor (4-4 3FG) and 68.7 percent (11-16) at the line, in the Trailblazers' road sweep ... Conway scored a game-high 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting with a pair of 3-pointers to go with six boards, one assist and one steal in just 17 minutes at CCU, then followed that up with a game-high 24 points (one off of his career high) in the come-from-behind win at Regis.
* - Conway scored 15 of his 24 points in the second half to help rally DSU from a double-digit deficit to end Regis' five-game winning streak ... he hit on 7-of-10 from the field with two more treys and was 8-of-10 at the line with a team-high seven rebounds.
* - Conway posted his first double-double in a Trailblazer uniform with 19 points and a career-high 13 rebounds in the win over MSUD (1/11) ... Conway scored 17 of his 19 points, including a perfect 3-of-3 from the perimeter, and pulled down 10 rebounds after halftime.
* - Conway has scored in double figures in 12 of his first 15 games with six 20-plus point outings ... his 24 points at CCU (and at UCCS 1/4) was one off of his career high of 25 set earlier this season in the home win vs. Western Oregon (11/24) ... the junior also poured in 23 points on 7-of-11 from the floor and 9-of-12 at the line in his RMAC debut at Westminster (12/1).
* - Conway, who his eighth in the RMAC in scoring (17.0 ppg) and t-15th in rebounding (5.9 rpg), also went for 22 points in the season opener vs. Cal Poly Pomona (11/17), with 13 of those 22 points coming at the foul line as he attempted a game-high 17 free throws.
* - Conway has already gone to the foul line 102 times (79-of-102; 6.8 FTApg) makes) and is shooting 77.5 percent at the stripe.
* - After starting the first 13 games of the season, Dub Price came off the bench in both games last weekend and responded by averaging 10.0 points on 53.8 percent shooting (7-of-13) and 4.0 rebounds ... Price tallied eight points and five boards at CCU, then went for 12 points, three caroms and a blocked shot at Regis.
* - Price posted Dixie State's first double-double of the season with 13 points and a career-high tying 11 boards in the NMHU win (12/14) ... Price also poured in a career-best 20 points in DSU's win at South Dakota Mines (12/7), against which he connected on 7-of-11 shots with seven rebounds, three assists and three steals.
* - After being held scoreless in a start at CCU, Andre Wilson bounced back with 13 points, bolstered by a 9-of-11 effort at the line, the next night at Regis ... Wilson has scored in double figures in four of his last five outings, highlighted by a career-high 16 points on 4-of-8 from the floor (3-of-4 3FG) and 5-of-7 at the line vs. Chadron State (1/12).
*- Zach Frampton filled the stat sheet to the tune of a career-high 15 points, four rebounds, two assists, two steals and his second collegiate block at UCCS (1/4) ... Frampton also dished out four assists against both CCU and Regis last weekend and he enters the week as the team leaders in assists (38, 2.5 apg) and steals (19, 1.2 spg).
* - Junior guard Jack Pagenkopf returned to the starting line-up last weekend and averaged 7.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals in DSU's road sweep ... the junior picked off three steals and had three defensive rebounds and five points in DSU's 84-48 win at CCU, then went for 10 points with four boards and two more steals in the Regis win.
* - Senior forward Julien Ducree was penciled into the starting line-up for the first time in his DSU career at CCU last Friday, and he responded with 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting with three rebounds and a steal in 17 minutes ... Ducree earned another starting nod the next night at Regis, against which he hit 3-of-4 from the field for seven first-half points and four boards ... Ducree played 10 total minutes against the Rangers, though his missed almost the entire second half due to a minor injury.
* - Ducree enjoyed arguably the best outing of his collegiate career at Black Hills State (12/8), against which he poured in a DSU-career high 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting with four rebounds, three steals and two assists in 17 minutes off the bench
* - Ducree, who is averaging 9.4 ppg over his last 10 games, posted his first DSU double-double with 11 points (on 5-of-7 shooting) and a DSU career-best 10 rebounds at Saint Martin's (12/18).  
* - Ducree has also recorded at least one blocked shot in nine of his first 14 outings this season.
* - The Trailblazer reserves combined to score a season-high 42 points at CCU last Friday, which eclipsed the previous high of 41 points set earlier this year in the win vs. Academy of Art (11/23) ... forwards Quincy Mathews (season-high) and Cameron Chatwin paced the reserves with 10 points apiece, and along with Price's eight points, freshman forward Josh Newbold poured in a career-high seven points on 3-of-3 shooting with a 3-pointer.
* - The 42 points at CCU marked just the fifth time since January of 2015 that the DSU bench tallied 40 or more points in a game ... the Blazers scored 43 bench points in a win over Fresno Pacific last season (1/26/18), and had 46 points in an overtime loss to Central Washington (11/18/16) ... DSU also poured in 51 bench points in a road win at Dominican (1/29/15).
* - In all, the DSU bench is averaging 26.9 ppg through the first 15 games of the season, while the Blazer reserves have outscored their opponent's reserves in 11 of those 15 dates.  
* - Dating back to the 2016-17 season, Dixie State has had 41 of its last 72 games decided by nine points or less, including 14 of 30 games last year and seven of the first 15 games this season.
* - Also dating back to 2016-17, Dixie State has shot 50 percent or better in 23 of its last 66 games overall, including four games this season, which includes a season-high .591 clip (26-of-44) at Colorado School of Mines (1/5), and a 52.7 percent (29-of-55) last Friday at CCU.
* - DSU shot 50 percent or better eight times last season, with seven of those occasions coming on the road.
* - DSU was held was held to a paltry 22.2 percent clip (6-of-27) in the first half against MSUD (1/11) ... however the Trailblazers bounced back in a big way in the second 20-minute period as DSU went 16-of-20 (.800) from the floor, including 6-of-7 from the perimeter, to outscore the Roadrunners 50-20 en route to its 31-point win.
* - DSU's 31-point spread vs. MSUD just missed cracking the top-10 for most lopsided victory in the program's NCAA era and was the largest margin of victory since the Blazers posted an 89-55 (+34) triumph over Hawai'i Hilo late last season (2/10/18).
* - Though DSU just missed cracking the top-10 vs. MSUD, the 36-point win at CCU last Friday tied for the fifth-largest margin of victory, and is the largest road margin of victory, in the program's NCAA era ... DSU also posted a 36-point win at home vs. Chaminade during the 2016-17 season (102-66; 2/4/17).
* - Dixie State tied a season-low at the foul line (58.8 percent, 20-of-34) in the loss to Chadron State (1/12) ... the 58.8 clip matched the effort (10-of-17) at the foul line in the win at SD Mines (12/7), however DSU rebounded that next night with a season-best 87.5 percent night (14-of-16) at BHSU (12/8) ... the 87.5 percent clip at the line at BHSU is DSU's highest FT% in more than two seasons (74 games), and was the best since DSU connected on 87.1 percent (27-of-31) in a road win at Chaminade (1/23/16) during the 2015-16 campaign.
* - DSU attempted a season-high 40 free throws at Regis last Saturday and shot 75.0 overall (30-of-40) ... the two teams combined for 78 total free throw attempts (Regis 24-of-38) as 59 combined fouls were called and five players (1 DSU, 4 Regis) fouled out.
* - DSU has won the "Battle of the Boards" in 10 of its first 15 games this season and in 34 of its last 44 games dating back to last year ... Dixie State was +10 in rebounding vs. MSUD (1/11), which marked the fourth time this season that the Trailblazers held a double-digit advantage on the boards ... unfortunately DSU was minus-19 on the boards the next night in its loss to Chadron State (1/12).
* - The team's rebounding margin (+3.0, T-3rd RMAC) received a huge boost in the NMHU win (12/14) as the Trailblazers outrebounded the Cowboys by a 55-25 count ... the 55-rebound night tied for the sixth-best single game total in DSU's NCAA era.
* - Meanwhile, the +30 rebounding effort vs. NMHU also tied for the second-highest rebounding margin in program history, bested only by a +31 margin posted in an 82-76 overtime win over Concordia-Irvine (12/3/16) during the 2016-17 season ... DSU also recorded a +30 rebounding margin over Hawai'i Hilo during the 2013-14 campaign (W, 97-69; 2/13/14).

ABOUT THE COLORADO MESA "MAVERICKS": Colorado Mesa enters Friday night's game tied for fifth in the RMAC standings at 7-4 and has won five of its last seven conference games overall. Preseason RMAC selection Connor Nichols (G, Sr., 6-6) is the league's top scorer at 22.4 ppg and has scored 20 or more points in 10 of 17 starts, which includes a 37-point night in a win over Black Hills State (1/5/19).

ABOUT THE WESTERN COLORADO "MOUNTAINEERS": Western enters this weekend still looking for its first RMAC win as the Mountaineers have dropped 11-straight league games. The Mountaineers did split their six non-conference games, which included a season-opening 77-72 home win over current No. 12/15 West Texas A&M.
    The Mountaineers have two active players averaging double figures in points, highlighted by senior guard Brady Subart (6-3, 190) who averages 13.8 ppg and is Western's top 3-point threat (41-of-89; .461). 

UP NEXT: After living out of a suitcase for most of January, Dixie State will begin a stretch that will see the team play seven of its final nine games inside the friendly confines of the Burns Arena. The Trailblazers will open a four-game homestand next weekend against Fort Lewis on Friday, Feb. 1, before hosting Adams State on Saturday, Feb. 2. Tip-off for both games is set for 7:30 p.m.