Game Notes: DIXIE STATE - PDF | FLC | ASU
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OPENING TIP: After living out of a suitcase for most of January, Dixie State (9-8/7-6 RMAC will begin a stretch that will see the team play seven of its final nine games inside the friendly confines of the Burns Arena. Winners of four-straight and five of their last six games overall, the Trailblazers will open a four-game homestand this Friday night against Fort Lewis (9-10/4-9 RMAC), before hosting Adams State (6-12/6-7 RMAC) on Saturday night. Tip-off for both games is set for 7:30 p.m.

THE SERIES: Dixie State enters Friday's game vs. Fort Lewis looking to break through against the Skyhawks as FLC has claimed the first five meetings between the two sides. Three of the five previous games have been played in Durango, including the last match-up, an 89-82 overtime Skyhawk win (11/23/12), while FLC claimed victory in its only visit to the Burns Arena (90-78; 12/30/08) during the 2008-09 season.
    DSU is 2-0 all-time vs. Adams State, however the Blazers and Grizzlies have not squared off since Dixie State's NCAA debut season in 2006-07, when DSU swept a home-and-home set vs. ASU (DSU 66, at ASU 55 - 11/18/06; at DSU 68, ASU 52 - 11/30/06). In fact, Dixie State's road win at ASU was the program's first-ever NCAA victory.

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 completed a sweep of its longest road trip of the RMAC season last weekend as the Trailblazers pushed their winning streak to a season-high four games with two more victories. Five Trailblazers scored in double figures, led by a season-high 17 points off the bench from Wade Miller, as DSU rolled to an 86-61 triumph at Colorado Mesa last Friday night. Dixie State never trailed and tied a school record with 13 made 3-pointers, including five treys from Miller, en route to the lopsided win.
    DSU then traveled to Gunnison for a Saturday date at Western Colorado. The two teams battled through seven ties and 26 lead changes, and needed five extra minutes decide things after the Blazers' erased a six-point deficit in the final 50 seconds of regulation, before DSU finally prevailed for a 96-91 overtime victory. Matt Conway led five Blazers in double figures with a career-high 33 points. 

COACHING STAFF: Six-time PacWest Conference Coach of the Year Jon Judkins (Utah State, 1988; 537-253 career record) is in his 14th season on the Dixie State bench, where he has compiled a 253-125 overall record, including a 233-113 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).

537 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 538 career victories (538-194) in 22-plus seasons on the Bruins' bench.

NO HOLIDAY HANGOVER: Dixie State wrapped up the first month of 2019 with a 5-3 record, with the last four of those wins coming on the road. Meanwhile, the Trailblazers' average margin of victory in those five wins was 20.0 ppg, bolstered by a season-high 36-point win at Colorado Christian (84-48, 1/18) and a 31-point triumph vs. MSU Denver (69-38, 1/11).  
    Under Coach Judkins, DSU has played to a 73-24 (.752) overall record in the month of January in the program's NCAA era (12-plus seasons), including a 20-4 mark over the past three seasons, highlighted by an 8-0 January last year as the Blazers' closed the 2017-18 campaign with 15-straight regular season wins en route to the their sixth PacWest title.

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. 

RAREFIED AIR: Last Saturday's game at Western Colorado marked the second time this season that the Trailblazers 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 also 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?: Bolstered by its four-game road sweep over the past two weekends, Dixie State is currently 118-88 (.573) in 206 games away from home in its Division II era under Head Coach Jon Judkins. Overall, the Trailblazers have played to a 94-67 record (.584) in true road games, and a 24-21 mark (.533) in neutral site games during Judkins' tenure.
    The Trailblazers, who are 5-5 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 school record-tying 13 treys at Colorado Mesa last Friday, followed by 10 more trifectas the next night at Western Colorado. That feat marked the first time in the program's NCAA era that Dixie State had recorded 10 or more 3-pointers in back-to-back games.  
    In all, Dixie State has hit at least one three pointer in 250 of its last 252 games overall, and in 344 of the program's 348 NCAA-era games since the beginning of the 2006-07 season.
    Dixie State has reached double-figures in made 3-pointers 15 times overall, highlighted by a single-game 3FGM school record of 13 first set at Carroll College on Nov. 11, 2008.

FROM WAY DOWNTOWN....BANG: Also of note, the Trailblazers surrendered an opponent school-record 21 3-pointers in the win at Western Colorado last Saturday. WCU's 21 treys broke the previous record of 18 set by Chaminade (18-of-40) back on Jan. 5, 2008, in Honolulu.
    In addition, WCU's 49 3-point attempt easily eclipsed the previous DSU-opponent single-game record of 41 first set by Hawai'i Hilo (14-of-41; 1/21/16 in Hilo) and tied nearly a year later by Point Loma (14-of-41; 12/19/16 in San Diego).

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 14 dunks this season, which included back-to-back dunks from team leader Julien Ducree (9) and Matt Conway last Friday at CMU.

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 the best four-game stretch of any player in the program's NCAA era on DSU's just completed road trip, during which he averaged 22.5 points on 62.8 percent (27-of-43) shooting, including 8-of-11 3FG (.727), and 27-of-40 (.675) at the line.
* - After scoring 13 points with a pair of treys in the win at CMU, Conway erupted for a DSU team season high and career-high 33 points on 9-of-16 shooting and 13-of-19 at the line in the Blazers' OT win at Adams State ... Conway also pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds to post his team-leading second double-double of the year.
* - Conway's 33 points tied for the second-highest single-game point total in the program's NCAA era and were the most since former DSU guard Trevor Hill poured in a school record 35 points last season in a win vs. Eastern New Mexico (11/17/17) ... Conway tied former DSU forward Steven Larson, who tallied 33 points at Notre Dame de Namur (2/16/13) during the 2012-13 season.
* - Conway's effort last weekend came on the heels of another solid weekend at CCU/Regis, against which 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 ... 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 (1/18), then followed that up with a game-high 24 points (one off of his career high) in the come-from-behind win at Regis (1/19).
* - 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 14 of his first 17 games with seven 20-plus point outings ... his 24 points at Regis (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, whose 17.7 ppg average this year is currently second on DSU's single season list (behind only DSU Associate Head Coach Kasey Winters - 17.9 ppg/2007-08) and is good for eighth in the RMAC, 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 126 times (95-of-126; 7.4 FTApg) and is shooting 75.4 percent at the stripe ... his 126 FTA already ranks him t-eighth on DSU's single season list.
* - After being held scoreless in a start at CCU (1/18), Andre Wilson bounced back double figures in each of his next three starts, highlighted by a road season-high 14 points with four boards at Western last Saturday, which included the game-tying bucket with 4.0 seconds to play in regulation ... Wilson also poured with 13 points (9-of-11 FT) at Regis (1/19) and tallied 11 points with three assists at CMU last Friday ... Wilson has scored in double figures in six of his last seven outings, which includes 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) ... Though he did not score at CMU, Frampton did dish out a career-high five assists with three steals in 30 minutes vs. the Mavericks, then went for 10 points and with three dimes and two more steals at Western ... enters the week as the team leaders in assists (46, 2.7 apg) and steals (24, 1.4 spg).
* - Jack Pagenkopf enjoyed a solid weekend in his own right as he averaged 11.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 2.0 steals last week ... the junior guard tallied 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting with a pair of treys to go with five boards and three assists at CMU ... Pagenkopf bettered that line with career-highs of seven assists and four steals at WCU, with two of those dimes and a crucial steal coming in the final minute of play as DSU erased a six-point deficit to force overtime ... Pagenkopf also chipped in 10 points and four caroms in 30 minutes of action.  
* - As a team, DSU recorded season-highs in assists (25) and steals (14) in the win at WCU.
* - Senior forward Julien Ducree was penciled into the starting line-up for the first time in his DSU career at CCU (1/18), 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 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 8.9 ppg over his last 12 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 11 of his first 16 outings this season.
* - The Trailblazer reserves combined to score a season-high 43 points at Colorado Mesa last Friday, which eclipsed the previous high of 42 points set a week earlier this year in the win at Colorado Christian (1/18) ... seniors Wade Miller (season-high) and Dub Price paced the reserves with 17 and 14 points respectively ... Miller hit on 6-of-8 from the floor, which included a 5-of-5 effort from the perimeter, while Price hit all five of his shot attempts with two 3-pointers.
* - Since becoming DSU's sixth-man after starting the first 13 games of the season, Price is averaging 11.5 ppg on 65.4 percent shooting (17-of-26) over his last four games.  
* - The 43 bench points at CMU marked third time this season and just the sixth 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 27.6 ppg through the first 17 games of the season, while the Blazer reserves have outscored their opponent's reserves in 12 of those 17 dates.  
* - Dating back to the 2016-17 season, Dixie State has had 42 of its last 74 games decided by nine points or less, including 14 of 30 games last year and eight of the first 17 games this season.
* - Also dating back to 2016-17, Dixie State has shot 50 percent or better in 24 of its last 68 games overall, including five games this season, which includes a season-high .591 clip (26-of-44) at Colorado School of Mines (1/5), and 58.8 percent (30-of-51) last Friday night at CMU.
* - 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 (1/11) 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 (1/18) 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 45 free throws at Western Colorado last Saturday and shot 71.1 overall (32-of-40) ... the 32 made free throws, also a season-high, helped negate Western's 21 made 3-pointers (out of 28 total FG makes).  
* - DSU has won the "Battle of the Boards" in 11 of its first 17 games this season and in 35 of its last 46 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, 4th 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 FORT LEWIS "SKYHAWKS": Fort Lewis enters Friday night's game 13th in the RMAC standings (4-9) after having lost five of its last eight since the calendar turned to 2019. Preseason RMAC selection Marquel Beasley (F, Sr., 6-5) leads four Skyhawk players averaging double figures at 17.1 ppg and is shooting better than 50 percent from the floor (.502, 114-of-227).

ABOUT THE ADAMS STATE "GRIZZLIES": Adams State, which plays at Westminster College on Friday, enters this weekend one game back of the Trailblazers in the RMAC standings at 6-7. In fact, all six of the Grizzlies' wins on the season have come in league play. Senior guard John Dewey (6-1, 170) is the RMAC's fourth-leading scorer at 18.5 ppg and the conference's leading FT shooter (104-of-113, .920).

UP NEXT: Dixie State continues its homestand next weekend with a pair of return games against Western Colorado on Friday, Feb. 8, and Colorado Mesa on Saturday, Feb. 9. Tip-off for both games is set for 7:30 p.m.