Game Notes: DIXIE STATE - PDF | TAMU-C | UTT
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OPENING TIP: Dixie State (0-0/0-0 RMAC) kicks off the 2019-20 regular season this weekend against two members of the Lone Star Conference as part of the 2019 D2 Conference Challenge. The Trailblazers open the Challenge with a match-up against Texas A&M Commerce (0-0) on Friday evening, followed by a date vs. UT-Tyler (0-0 on Saturday night.
    Both games will tip each night at 5:30 p.m., inside the Westminster College Behnken Field House in Salt Lake City. Live stats and streaming video information for Saturday night's game can be found HERE.

THE SERIES: Dixie State has faced TAMU-Commerce just one other time on the basketball court - a 74-64 DSU loss to the Lions, which came during the 2014-15 season in a neutral site game played in Riverside, Calif. (11/29/14 at California Baptist).
    Saturday's game vs. UT-Tyler will be the first-ever meeting between the Patriots and Trailblazers on the hardwood.

DIXIE STATE ON THE AIR: All Dixie State home games this season 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.

COACHING STAFF: Six-time PacWest Conference Coach of the Year Jon Judkins (Utah State, 1988; 546-253 career record) begins in his 15th season on the Dixie State bench, where he has compiled a 262-126 overall record, including a 242-114 mark during DSU's NCAA Division II era.
    Last season, Judkins led DSU to an 18-9 overall record, the program's 11th-straight winning seasons, which includes seven 20-win campaigns, highlighted by a school-record 23 victories in 2017-18, and 22 wins during both the 2010-11 and 2012-13 seasons. He has also guided DSU to six Pacific West championships, including four-straight titles from 2009-13 and two more crowns in 2014-15 and 2017-18, 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 10 seasons overall from 2010-19, 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 Trailblazer sidelines this season by assistant coaches Jake Schroeder (Portland State, 2006), who returns for his second stint as a DSU assistant coach, Andrew May (BYU, 2010), who joins the DSU program this season after serving as director of basketball operations at BYU, and third-year volunteer assistant coach David Foster (Utah, 2013).

CAREER GAME NO. 800 FOR JUDKINS: Coach Judkins reached another milestone in last season's final game as he coached in his 800th-career collegiate game, which unfortunately resulted in an 86-82 RMAC Tournament quarterfinal loss to New Mexico Highlands (3/5/19). Judkins has coached 388 of those games at DSU, including 356 NCAA-era contests (along with 32 NJCAA in 2005-06), and 412 games in 12 seasons while at Snow College. 

546 AND COUNTING: Coach Judkins became the first men's 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 (546 wins) is currently 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. Judkins' last coaching victory, which came in the 2018-19 regular season finale at home vs. Westminster (W, 64-51; 3/1/19), moved him past long-time Salt Lake CC head women's basketball coach Betsy Specketer, who retired this past spring with 545 career victories (545-196) in 23 seasons on the Bruins' bench.

TRAILBLAZERS PICKED SECOND IN THE RMAC: Dixie State was voted to finish second in the 2019-20 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference men's basketball preseason coaches' poll released, which was released on Oct. 17. The Trailblazers, which finished tied for second place (16-6) in their RMAC debut last season, return two starters and six letter winners from last season's 18-9 team.  
    Defending RMAC regular season champion Colorado School of Mines received 14 of the possible 16 first place votes to claim the top spot in the poll with 224 points, while DSU collected one first place vote and 198 points to finish second. Regis placed third in the poll with 185 points, followed by 2019 RMAC tournament champion New Mexico Highlands (163 pts) in fourth, MSU Denver in fifth (1 first place vote, 156 pts), UCCS in sixth (146 pts), Fort Lewis (131 pts) in seventh and Colorado Mesa (127 pts) in eighth to round out the top-half of the 16-team poll.

LAST SEASON IN THE RMAC: After joining the RMAC in 2018, the 2019 season will mark the second and final season the Trailblazers will be a competing member of the conference. In 2020, Dixie State will begin its transition to NCAA Division I status and will become a new member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). 

MEET THE 2019-20 TRAILBLAZERS: Dixie State enters the 2019-20 season with a lot of unknowns as the Trailblazers lost eight players, including three starters, from last season's 18-9 team that finished second in its RMAC debut and advanced to the conference tournament quarterfinal round.
    Three of DSU's six returnees are seniors, including starting guards Jack Pagenkopf (6-3; Brooklyn, NY/Blue Valley HS/Howard College) and Andre Wilson (6-3; Moreno Valley, Calif./Patriot HS/Riverside CC), and reserve forward Cameron Chatwin (6-9; Mesa, Ariz./Desert Ridge HS/Saint Martin's). Pagenkopf earned all-RMAC honorable mention accolades last season after he started in 23 of 25 games played and led the team in assists (77, 3.1 apg), and was fifth in scoring (8.2 ppg). He scored in double figures in 11 of those 25 outings, including nine RMAC contests, and led the team in assists 13 times, highlighted by a career-high seven assists in a win at Western Colorado (1/26).
    Meanwhile Wilson started in 15 of DSU's final 16 games last season and averaged 6.4 points, 1.9 assists and 1.6 rebounds overall while shooting just over 40.0 percent from the floor. Wilson scored in double figures in seven of those outings, including a career-high 16 points vs. Chadron State (1/12/19). Chatwin averaged 4.3 points and 2.8 rebounds as a key contributor off the bench and scored in double figures three times last season, highlighted by a career-high 18-point night in a home win over CSU-Pueblo (12/15/18).
    DSU also returns junior point guard Dason Youngblood (6-2; South Jordan, Utah/Bingham HS/Skagit Valley CC – 2.4 ppg/1.6 rpg/2.1 apg), and sophomore forwards Josh Newbold (6-7; South Jordan, Utah/Bingham HS) and Jacob Nicolds (6-5; Gilbert, Ariz./Gilbert HS – 1.1 ppg/0.8 rpg).  
    Dixie State welcomes in six total transfers, including five junior college newcomers, who will make their DSU debuts this season. Sophomore James Nelson (G/F, 6-6; Salem, Utah/Salem Hills HS) joins the program after one season at Saint Martin's, while juco transfers Jamar Ergas (G, 6-3; Toronto, Ontario/Elite 1 [AZ] HS/Washington State/South Plains College), Jarod Greene (F/C, 6-8; Blackfoot, Idaho/Blackfoot HS/North Idaho), Mark Hatch (G, 6-0; Mesa, Ariz./Mesa HS/Scottsdale CC), Zubair Seyed (G, 6-0; Cambridge, Ontario/St. Benedict C.S.S./Daytona State College), and Hunter Schofield (F/C, 6-8; Spanish Fork, Utah/Spanish Fork HS/Salt Lake CC) all will look to make an immediate impact.
    Three freshmen will also vie for playing time, including California prep standout forward Frank Staine (6-6; Inglewood, Calif./St. Anthony HS), and former Utah prep guards Lleyton Parker (6-3; South Jordan, Utah/Bingham HS) and Brock Staheli (6-2; Santa Clara, Utah/Snow Canyon HS).

"WE'RE GOING STREAKING!": Dixie State begins the 2019-20 looking to extend its current 13-game regular season winning streak, which is tied for the second-longest streak in the program's NCAA era. DSU also won 13-straight regular season games in 2011-12, to complement its school record 17-game win streak set in 2017-18.
    Under Coach Judkins, DSU has played to a whopping 158-46 (.774) overall record during the final two months of the regular season in the program's NCAA era (13 seasons), highlighted by a regular-season school-record 15-game winning streak (17-straight including postseason) to close the 2017-18 campaign en route to the program's sixth PacWest title.

AGAINST NON-CONFERENCE OPPONENTS: Dixie State is 71-66 (.518) all-time against non-conference opponents in its 13 seasons of four-year competition, which includes a final 2-3 non-league mark last year and an 11-14 record in the program's first year of NCAA play (2006-07). Additionally, DSU owns a combined 6-13 postseason record (4-4 PacWest, 0-1 RMAC, 2-8 NCAA).
    DSU 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).

IT'S NOT HOW YOU START....: Dixie State enters Friday's opener vs. TAMU-Commerce looking to stop a three-game season-opening losing skid, which includes a 72-66 home loss to Cal Poly Pomona (11/17/18) in last year's season debut. DSU is 6-7 all-time in season-opening games during the program's Division II era. Despite the streak, DSU has won four of its last seven, and six of its previous 11 openers overall.

HOME SWEET HOME: Dixie State clinched its 12th-straight home winning season record in 13 seasons of NCAA competition after the Trailblazers finished the 2018-19 campaign with an 11-4 mark (9-2 RMAC) inside the Burns Arena. Since becoming an NCAA Division II program in 2006-07, Dixie State has played to a 123-27 (.820) overall record on the home floor under Head Coach Jon Judkins.
    DSU has now posted eight 10-plus win seasons during its four-year era, highlighted by a perfect 12-0 record in 2009-10, and 11-1 records in the 2015-16 and 2016-17 campaigns.

HOME SWEET HOME, PART 2: Dixie State finished the 2018-19 season ranked in the top-three nationally at the NCAA Division II level in home game attendance. Last season's accomplishment also marked the 10th-straight season overall that the Trailblazer program has closed a season ranked in the top-10 in the nation in home attendance.
    The Trailblazers posted the third-highest total attendance number in the country at 34,882 fans in 15 home dates, which was also first in both the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and the NCAA South Central Region. In addition, DSU finished tied for second nationally (with Fort Hays State) in season attendance average at 2,325 fans per home game, behind only Northern (SD) State, which led the nation in both total attendance (51,526/14 games) and attendance average (3,680).
    Since the 2008-09 season, Dixie State has been annually ranked in the top-15 in Division II in home 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 in 2016-17, fifth in 2014-15, sixth in 2015-16, ninth in 2009-10 and 2017-18, and 14th in 2008-09.
    Dixie State also finished sixth among Utah's eight NCAA member institution in average attendance in 2018-19, behind Brigham Young (191,322/11,958 per game – 16 games), Utah (166,004/11,067 – 15 games), Utah State (104,709/6,981 – 15 games), Weber State (101,326/6,755 – 15 games) and Utah Valley (43,985/2,932 – 15 games). However, DSU did finish well ahead of both Southern Utah (30,830/2,055 – 15 games) and Westminster College (2,317/211 – 11 games).

HOME SWEET HOME, PART 3: Dixie State, which led the RMAC in home attendance last season, 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. DSU also played in front of an announced crowd of 4,185 (#6 all-time in DSU's NCAA era) vs. CMU back on Feb. 9.
    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?: Thanks to winning its final six regular season road games last season, Dixie State improved to 120-88 (.577) in 208 games away from home in its Division II era under Head Coach Jon Judkins. Overall, the Trailblazers have played to a 96-67 record (.589) in true road games, and a 24-21 mark (.533) in neutral site games during Judkins' tenure.
    The Trailblazers, who posted a 7-5 regular season road mark last year, were a combined 14-6 as road warriors in the 2017-18 campaign, 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 10 of its 13 D-II campaigns overall, including a program best 15-5 record (10-2 in road contests) in 2010-11.

RELEASE...ROTATION...SPLASH: Dating back to late in the 2016-17 season, Dixie State has hit at least one 3-pointer in 59-straight games, including a school record-tying 13 treys at Colorado Mesa (1/25/19) last season, which was followed by 10 more trifectas the next night at Western Colorado (1/26/19). That feat marked the first time in the program's NCAA era that Dixie State had made 10 or more 3-pointers in back-to-back games. DSU also drilled 11 treys vs. Regis (2/22/19) later in the season.  
    In all, Dixie State has hit at least one three pointer in 260 of its last 262 games overall, and in 354 of the program's 358 NCAA-era games since the beginning of the 2006-07 season.
    Dixie State has reached double-figures in made 3-pointers 16 times overall, highlighted by a single-game 3FGM school record of 13 first set at Carroll College on Nov. 11, 2008.

2018-19 TEAM NOTE RECAP:
* - Dating back to the 2016-17 season, Dixie State has had 45 of its last 84 games decided by nine points or less, including 14 of 30 games in 2017-18, and in 11 of 27 games last season.
* - Also dating back to 2016-17, Dixie State has shot 50 percent or better in 27 of its last 78 games overall, including eight games last season, highlighted by a season-high .591 clip (26-of-44) at Colorado School of Mines (1/5), and 50.8 percent (30-of-59) vs. Regis (2/22).
* - Dixie State won six games by 25 or more points, including four 30-plus point margin of victories, highlighted by a 36-point win at CCU (1/18) ... that win 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).
* - Meanwhile, DSU's 33-point triumph at Adams State (96-63; 2/15) is tied for 10th on DSU's single season margin of victory list ... the four 30-plus point wins overall last season were the most in the program's NCAA era.  
* - Dixie State broke an NCAA-era program record for lowest FT% in the win over Western Colorado (2/8) as the Trailblazers hit on just 3-of-14 (.214) at the "charity" stripe, which included an 0-of-9 effort in the second half ... DSU did come back the next night vs. CMU (2/9) and connect on 31-of-43 (.721) at the line.   
* - DSU shot a season-best 87.5 percent night (14-of-16) at BHSU (12/8) ... the 87.5 percent clip at the line at BHSU was 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 (1/26) 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).
* - On the flipside, DSU was held to a season-low six total free throws (4-of-6) at Fort Lewis (2/16) ... the four FTA were the lowest since the Blazers attempted seven FTs in a home win vs. Holy Names (2/25/17) late in the 2016-17 season ... the DSU single-game record low for FTA is four set in a neutral-site loss to Texas A&M-Commerce (11/29/14) during the 2014-15 campaign.  
* - DSU has won the "Battle of the Boards" in 20 of 27 games last season and in 43 of its last 54 games dating back to the 2017-18 campaign ... Dixie State posted a school record +36 rebounding margin vs. Colorado Christian (58-22, 2/23), including a 20-3 count on the offensive glass, which marked the eighth time last season that the Trailblazers posted a double-digit advantage on the boards ... the 58 total rebounds vs. CCU were also the third-most in the program's NCAA-era.
* - The team's +5.8 rebounding margin last season 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 seventh-best single game total in DSU's NCAA era.

ABOUT THE TEXAS A&M-COMMERCE "LIONS": Texas A&M-Commerce is coming off a stellar 2018-19 campaign the saw the Lions post a 24-9 overall record, which included a trip to the Lone Star Conference tournament championship game, and advancing to the second round of the NCAA Division II South Central Regional tournament.
    The Lions return four players off of last year's squad, including a part-time starter in senior forward Rodney Brown (6-7; 6.1 ppg/3.9 rpg), and senior reserve guard Austin Grandstaff (6-6; 7.9 ppg/2.8 rpg).

ABOUT THE UT-TYLER "PATRIOTS": UT-Tyler began its transition to NCAA Division II status in July of 2018, and will start its first season of competition in the Lone Star Conference this season.
     This weekend's trip to Salt Lake City will be the second trip to the Beehive State in as many weekends for the Patriots, who played exhibition games at Utah (L, 47-88; 10/30) and at BYU (L, 58-100; 11/1) last weekend. Senior guard Ty Glover (6-7) scored a team-high 17 points in the loss at Utah, while junior guard Da'Zhon Wyche (5-10) let the Patriots with 16 points against BYU.

UP NEXT: The Trailblazers open their 14-game home slate next weekend as hosts of the 2019 Dixie State Classic Nov. 15-16 in the Burns Arena. DSU will open the tourney with an exhibition game vs. Providence (MT) University on Friday at 7:30 p.m., followed by a match-up vs. Saint Martin's on Saturday at 8 p.m.
    In addition to the DSU games, Saint Martin's will play Westminster College in the first game of the Classic on Friday at 5:30 p.m., while Providence and Westminster will square off in game three on Saturday at 5:30 p.m.