Game Notes: DIXIE STATE - PDF | WOU
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OPENING TIP: No. 6/5 Dixie State (10-0/5-0 RMAC) wraps up the non-conference portion of its 2019-20 regular season slate this Friday afternoon as the Trailblazers take their season-opening 10-game winning streak on the road for a matinee at Western Oregon (5-2). Tip-off is slated for 3 p.m. (PT), in the WOU New PE Building in Monmouth.

DIXIE STATE AGAINST THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT: Dixie State is 3-3 all-time against Western Oregon, which includes an 80-70 home win last season inside the Burns Arena (11/24/18). In fact, the two sides have alternated wins in the six previous games, and the Trailblazers will look to buck a trend in the seventh game of a series that has seen WOU win the odd-numbered games (1,3,5). DSU is 1-2 vs. the Wolves in games played in Monmouth, with the lone win coming in 2013 (78-74; 11/23/13).

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.

WEEK IN REVIEW: After beginning the season with four home games and four neutral-site games, Dixie State officially opened the road portion of its 2019-20 scheduled with two clutch RMAC victories last weekend. The Trailblazers began the weekend with a dramatic 109-108 come-from-behind overtime triumph at New Mexico Highlands last Friday night. DSU rallied from a 19-point second half deficit over the final 14 minutes of regulation to force overtime, then escaped with the improbable win after Dason Youngblood hit a floater in the lane with two seconds to play in OT.
    DSU followed that up the next night with a impressive 81-69 result at CSU-Pueblo, thanks in large part to a 19-5 Blazer run to open the second half, which turned a one-point halftime deficit in to a 13-point lead. DSU never looked back from there as the Blazers extended their season-opening win streak to 10-straight.

NATIONAL/REGIONAL RANKINGS: Thanks to last weekend's sweep, Dixie State moved up three spots to No. 6 in this week's NABC Division II top-25 poll, which is the highest in-season ranking in that poll in program history. In the 2013-14 season, DSU peaked at No. 7 in the NABC poll after its 11-0  start to that campaign.
    Meanwhile, the Trailblazers vaulted eight spots to No. 5 in the latest D2SIDA Division II media poll, and DSU received five first place votes to move into the top spot in this week's D2SIDA South Central Region poll.

COACHING STAFF: Six-time PacWest Conference Coach of the Year Jon Judkins (Utah State, 1988; 556-254 career record) is in his 15th season on the Dixie State bench, where he has compiled a 272-126 overall record, including a 252-114 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 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 second Aggie to post a triple-double. During the 1987-88 season, he helped lead the Aggies to the PCAA title and an NCAA Tournament appearance.
    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).

556 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 (556 career wins) is currently second all-time in coaching victories in Utah college basketball history, trailing only legendary University of Utah head women's coach Elaine Elliott, who amassed 582 career wins (582-234) in 27 seasons on the Utes' sideline.
    With last weekend's sweep, Coach Judkins' career record moved to 302-wins over .500 (.686 W%), while the home victory over Black Hills State (12/7) was his 270th overall win, and the 250th NCAA win, on the DSU bench overall. DSU also picked up its 250th NCAA victory the night before in the SD Mines (12/5) win (253-115 overall).

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). 

"WE'RE GOING STREAKING!": Dixie State's road sweep last weekend extended the Blazers' current regular season win streak to an NCAA-era program record 23-straight games, which includes the final 13 regular season games last year.  
    In 2017-18 campaign, the Trailblazers won their final 15 regular season games, and pushed that streak to a school record 17-straight victories overall in the Pacific West Conference tournament, en route to a program NCAA-era record 23 wins (23-7).
    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-plus seasons).

IT'S NOT HOW YOU START....: Dixie State's 10-0 start to the 2019-20 season marks the second time in the program's NCAA era that the Trailblazers have opened the season undefeated after 10 games. In fact, Dixie State heads into this Friday's game at WOU as one of six undefeated teams remaining at the NCAA Division II level.  
    In the 2013-14 campaign, DSU began that season 11-0 and won three additional exhibition games to boot, including a season-opening 71-70 exhibition upset of perennial NCAA Division-I power UNLV at the Thomas & Mack Center (11/1/13). Dixie State finished that season 21-7 and made the fifth of seven-straight NCAA Tournament appearances.

DON'T CALL IT A COMEBACK: Dixie State's come-from-behind overtime victory at New Mexico Highlands (109-108) last Friday night, during which DSU erased a 19-point second half deficit, marked the second-largest double-digit comeback in the program's NCAA era. In the 2013-14 season, Dixie State rallied from a 21-point (14-35) first half hole at home vs. Chaminade, outscoring the Silverswords 76-42 over the final 30-plus minutes of play to post a 90-77 triumph.
    The Trailblazers' 19-point rally at NMHU is the largest road comeback in the program's four-year era, passing the 17-point first half deficit DSU erased in a thrilling 66-64 win at California Baptist in the 2018 PacWest Tournament championship game (3/3/18).

AGAINST NON-CONFERENCE OPPONENTS: Dixie State is 76-66 (.535) all-time against non-conference opponents in 13-plus seasons of four-year competition, which includes its 5-0 start this 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).
    With its second neutral-site sweep in Salt Lake City last month, DSU has now recorded seven winning seasons in non-conference games in its four-year era, 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).

HOME SWEET HOME: Since becoming an NCAA Division II program in 2006-07, Dixie State has played to a 127-27 (.824) overall record on its home floor under Head Coach Jon Judkins, including a 4-0 mark this season. DSU has 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 consecutive seasons in 2015-16 and 2016-17.
    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).

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.

HOW ABOUT WHEN THE BAGS ARE PACKED?: Thanks to last weekend's sweep at NMHU and CSU-P, Dixie State improved to 126-88 (.588) in 214 games away from home in its Division II era under Head Coach Jon Judkins. Overall, the Trailblazers have played to a 98-67 record (.594) in true road games, and a 28-21 mark (.571) 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 69-straight games, including a season-high 11 treys last Friday at NMHU.
    Last season, DSU nailed a school record-tying 13 treys at Colorado Mesa (1/25/19), which was followed by 10 more 3-pointers 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 270 of its last 272 games overall, and in 364 of the program's 368 NCAA-era games since the beginning of the 2006-07 season.
    Dixie State has reached double-figures in made 3-pointers 17 times in its four-year era overall, highlighted by a single-game 3FGM school record of 13 first set at Carroll College on Nov. 11, 2008.

MESSED AROUND AND GOT A TRIPLE-DOUBLE: Saturday (11/9) was a good day for senior guard Jack Pagenkopf as he became the first Trailblazer in the program's NCAA era to record a triple-double, going for career-highs of 17 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists in DSU's 100-91 OT win vs. UT-Tyler.
    Pagenkopf scored 11 of his 17 points, including a clutch NBA-range game-tying 3-pointer to force OT, and dished out four of his 10 assists after halftime. The senior averaged 13.0 points, 12.0 rebounds and 8.5 assists in two games that weekend en route to RMAC Offensive Player of the Week honors (11/12).
    Pagenkopf flirted with another triple-double in the win vs. Lake Superior State (11/22) as he finished with a game-high nine assists to go with 15 points and 10 rebounds. He currently leads the RMAC in assists (6.4 apg - 14th-nationally), is third in assist/turnover ratio (2.6 - 63rd-nationally) and is fourth in rebounding (7.3 rpg - 175th-nationally), to go with his 12.0 ppg average.

TRIPLE-DOUBLE YOUR PLEASURE: Pagenkopf and Coach Judkins have a little more in common after that win vs. UTT on Nov. 9. While the senior guard became the first Trailblazer to post a triple-double, his head coach was the second (and last) Utah State Aggie to achieve the feat with 11 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in a home win vs. Pacific (102-73) on March 5, 1988.

2019-20 TEAM NOTES:
* - Pagenkopf's 10 assists vs. UT-Tyler were the most by a Trailblazer player since former DSU guard Mason Sawyer dished out 10 dimes vs. Azusa Pacific nearly four years ago (12/19/15), and it was just the ninth instance in the program's NCAA era that a DSU player had recorded double-digits in assists ... former DSU guard and former assistant coach Jeremiah Barnes owns the school single game assist record with 13 vs. Pacifica (12/4/10).
* - Junior forward Hunter Schofield has scored in double figures in all 10 games played this season with four 20-plus point outings, including both games last weekend ... Schofield averaged 26.5 ppg in the road sweep, including a then-career high 25 points, 14 of which came from the line, in the OT win at NMHU ... Schofield's 14 FTM, and 19 FTA, are tied for the second-most on DSU's single-game record list.
*- Schofield followed that up with a career-high 28 points on 11-of-21 shooting with nine rebounds the next night at CSU-P ... the junior poured in 16 of those points in the second half, while his 21 FGA are tied for third on DSU's single-game list.
*- Schofield posted his second double-double of the year with 18 points and a career-high 13 rebounds vs. SDM (12/6), then followed that up with a co-game high 19 points and eight boards vs. BHSU (12/7) ... he currently leads the team in scoring (19.0 ppg - 5th-RMAC/80th-nationally) and rebounding (7.6 rpg - t-3rd RMAC/t-139th-nationally), while shooting 52.6 percent from the field.
 * - Junior guard Dason Youngblood has scored in double figures in his last three starts and in five of 10 starts overall ... Youngblood tallied 15 points, including the game-winning bucket with two seconds left, and a career-high eight assists in the NMHU win last Friday, then went for 13 points, four dimes and a career-best eight boards the next night at CSU-P ... the junior also picked off two steals and collected a career-high two blocked shots for good measure in Pueblo.
* - Youngblood netted a career-high 27 points in the win over Alaska Fairbanks (11/23) ... Youngblood scored 19 of his 27 points in the second half, and connected on 12-of-17 from the floor overall with three rebounds and three assists ... the senior guard currently leads the RMAC in assist/turnover ratio (3.9 - 22nd-nationally) after he dished out a combined 12 dimes to just two miscues in last weekend's road sweep.
* - Freshman guard Frank Staine returned to form in the win at NMHU last Friday as he poured in a career-high 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting with three 3-pointers ... Staine has scored in double figures in seven of his 10 starts, which included a then-career high 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting with four 3-pointers in the Westminster win (11/30) ... Staine currently leads the team in FG% (.542, 39-of-72) and 3FG% (.476 - 6th in the RMAC; 20-of-42) with a team-high 20 3FGM to go with his 11.5 ppg average.
* - Senior reserve guard Andre Wilson served as a one of the catalysts in the Blazers' second half rally at NMHU last Friday as he scored 12 of his season-high 14 points in the second half and finished with a career-high six rebounds (four after halftime) ... his 14 points eclipsed his previous season high of 12 in the win over Lake Superior State (11/22) and were two off of his career high of 16 points set last season vs. Chadron State (1/12/19).
* - Senior forward Cameron Chatwin also enjoyed a solid road trip as he averaged 8.5 points and 4.5 rebounds off the bench last weekend ... Chatwin hit all three of his shots with two 3-pointers to finish with eight points in 15 minutes at NMHU, then when for nine points on 4-of-7 shooting and eight rebounds in 21 minutes at CSU-P.
* - Sophomore Josh Newbold enjoyed a break out night vs. Saint Martin's (11/16) as he poured in a team and career-high 22 points on 10-of-17 shooting in 19 reserve minutes ... Newbold (10.3 ppg) also tallied 11 points on 5-of-6 from the floor with six boards in a start vs. Westminster.
* - It was all about the number "3" for freshman guard Lleyton Parker vs. Saint Martin's (11/16) as he tallied three points on a 3-pointer, with three rebounds, three assists and three steals, in 15 minutes off the bench ... then in his next home appearance vs. Westminster (11/30), the freshman hit his only two shots - both were 3-pointers - to finished with six points with a rebound and a steal in 10 reserve minutes.
* - After missing the LSSU win due to a minor injury, sophomore forward Jacob Nicolds scored a career-high eight points on 4-of-4 shooting with one assist in just five minutes vs. UAF (11/23) ... sophomore guard Mark Hatch made is Trailblazer debut late in the LSSU win (11/22) and hit his lone shot - a 3-pointer ... junior forward Jarod Greene is averaging 5.3 points in 11.3 reserve minutes, highlighted by 15-point night on 5-of-7 shooting vs. UT-Tyler (11/9), and an eight-point effort on 4-of-4 shooting vs. SD Mines (12/6).  
* - DSU reserves have outscored their opponent's reserves by a combined 267-157 (26.7 ppg-15.7 ppg) count through 10 games this season, including a season-best +23 (36-13) edge at NMHU last Friday night ... DSU's bench has outscored its opponents in eight of 10 games overall.
* - Dixie State's 109 points at NMHU last Friday were the third-most in the program's NCAA era, while the 108 points scored by NMHU are a DSU opponent single-game record, which eclipsed the previous record of 105 points scored by Dominican (L, 90-105; 2/20/14) during the 2013-14 season.
* - Meanwhile, the 217 combined points scored in the DSU/NMHU game are also a new DSU program record, beating the previous total of 207 set in a 104-103 overtime loss at Azusa Pacific (12/10/16) during the 2016-17 campaign.
* - DSU's 100-point night vs. UT-Tyler (100-91, 11/9) snapped a string of 65-straight games that the Blazers had not reached the century mark on the scoreboard ... prior to the UT-Tyler game, the last time DSU scored 100-plus points was in a 102-66 blowout win vs. Chaminade (02/04/17) during the 2016-17 season.
* - For the first time in more than three full seasons, Dixie State managed to score 90-plus points in back-to-back games, doing so in both wins vs. Lake Superior State (95) and Alaska Fairbanks (90) last month ... the last time the Trailblazers accomplished that feat was late in the 2015-16 season when DSU tallied 93 points in a 93-65 win over Fresno Pacific (2/13/16), followed by a 91-point night in a 91-67 triumph over Holy Names (2/15/16).  
* - The overtime win at NMHU last Friday was DSU's second OT victory of the year (100-91 vs. UT-Tyler - 11/9), and was just the 31st overtime game in the program's NCAA era (368 games overall) ... DSU is 20-11 all-time in overtime games and has won five-straight OT games overall ... Four of those 31 games have gone to double-overtime (2-2), the last was a 79-75 loss at Cal Poly Pomona (11/10/17) in the 2017-18 season opener.
* - Dating back to the 2016-17 season, Dixie State has had 50 of its last 94 games decided by nine points or less, including five of the first 10 games this season.
* - Also dating back to 2016-17, Dixie State has shot 50 percent or better in 33 of its last 88 games overall, including the last three games overall, highlighted by a season-high 56.9 clip (33-of-58) at NMHU last Friday.
* - The last instance that Dixie State shot 50 percent or better in three-straight games came late in the 2017-18 season (2/19/18-2/24/18; vs. Holy Name (60.0), at Biola (54.0), at Point Loma (58.3)).
* - DSU has dished out 191 assists (19.1 apg) to just 117 turnovers (11.7 tpg) through the first 10 games of the year and is tops in the RMAC and ranked 14th-nationally in assist/turnover ratio (1.6).
* - DSU posted season-highs of 25 assists and season-lows of eight miscues against both Saint Martin's (11/16) and UAF (11/23) ... prior to the SMU feat, the 25 Trailblazer dimes were the most in a game since DSU dished out 25 assists in a win over Academy of Art during the 2015-16 season (W, 98-68; 2/11/16).
* - DSU has won the "Battle of the Boards" in nine of its first 10 games of the year, highlighted by a season-best +19 margin (46-27) vs. LSSU (11/22), and in 51 of its last 64 games dating back to the 2017-18 campaign ... Dixie State leads the RMAC and is ranked 25th-nationally in rebounding margin (+7.98, and is fifth-nationally in defensive rebounds with an RMAC-leading 31.2 drpg average.

ABOUT THE WESTERN OREGON "WOLVES": Western Oregon enters Friday's tilt with a 5-2 overall record, with all five of those wins coming in non-conference games to open the season. However, the Wolves are coming off a rough start to their GNAC season after dropping two road games at Alaska Fairbanks (L, 66-72) and Alaska-Anchorage (L, 86-88 OT) last weekend.
    Senior guard Dalven Brushier (6-3) leads four Wolves averaging double figures at 18.4 ppg while shooting 50.6 percent (45-of-89) from the floor. The senior is the team's top 3-point threat (16-of-36, .457) and leading FT shooter (23-of-29, .793).

UP NEXT: Dixie State returns from the Christmas Holiday and opens a stretch that will see the Trailblazers play seven of their next nine games inside the Burns Arena, starting with an exhibition game vs. Yellowstone Christian on Monday night, Dec. 30, at 7:30 p.m.