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OPENING TIP: No. 19 Dixie State (11-2/6-1 RMAC) heads out on its first road trip of the new year this weekend for a pair of important RMAC games, beginning with a date at MSU Denver (6-7/2-5 RMAC) on Friday night. Following the MSUD game, the Trailblazers will travel north for their first-ever visit to the state of Nebraska to take on Chadron State (3-10/2-5 RMAC) on Saturday night. Tip-off for each game is set for 7:30 p.m. (MT).

DIXIE STATE AGAINST THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT: Dixie State is 1-2 all-time against MSU Denver, with the lone Blazer win in series coming last year in RMAC play in a lopsided 69-38 home victory in the Burns Arena. DSU broke three NCAA-era defensive records in that win, including points allowed (38), opponent FG made (11) and FG% (.212, 11-of-52) in the resounding win.
    However, both DSU losses to MSUD have come on the road in non-conference action in Denver, including a 93-71 setback (11/16/07) during the 2007-08 season, followed the next season by a 73-59 loss to the Roadrunners on Dec. 6, 2008.
    Saturday's game at Chadron will be just the second-ever meeting between the Trailblazers and Eagles on the basketball court. Last year in St. George, Dixie State was handed a rare home loss by the Eagles in a 64-61 nail biter in the Burns Arena (1/12/19). 

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.

LAST TIME OUT: Dixie State kicked the 2020 portion of the regular season slate with a split of two RMAC games last weekend in the Burns Arena. The Trailblazers began the New Year with a 75-61 triumph over UCCS this past Friday night, only to see their perfect conference ledger blemished the next night in a heart-breaking 80-79 overtime loss to preseason RMAC favorite Colorado School of Mines. DSU saw an eight-point lead disappear over the final three-plus minutes of regulation, while the Orediggers sank the Blazers with a game-winning bucket with just five seconds to go in the extra frame to come away with the upset win.

NATIONAL/REGIONAL RANKINGS: Following the loss to Mines on Saturday night, Dixie State fell six spots to No. 19 in the latest NABC Division II Men's Basketball Top-25 poll. The Trailblazers are also ranked 19th in this week's D2SIDA Division II media poll, and DSU is No. 4 overall in the latest D2SIDA South Central Region poll.

COACHING STAFF: Six-time PacWest Conference Coach of the Year Jon Judkins (Utah State, 1988; 557-256 career record) is in his 15th season on the Dixie State bench, where he has compiled a 273-128 overall record, including a 253-116 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).

557 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 (557 career wins; .685 W%) 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 her 27 seasons on the Utes' sideline.

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). 

NEW YEAR = NEW STREAK?: Dixie State's road loss at Western Oregon (12/20) snapped the Blazers' NCAA-era program record 23-game regular season win streak, which included the final 13 regular season games last year.  
    In the 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 an NCAA-era program record 23 wins (23-7). Coincidentally, the 2017-18 win streak also came to an end on WOU's home court in Monmouth as the Trailblazers carried the streak into their NCAA Division II Tournament West Regional first round game vs. Azusa Pacific, but came away with a season-ending 69-65 loss.
    As the calendar has turned to January, DSU has played to a whopping 159-47 (.772) 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 11-2 start to the 2019-20 season, including a 10-0 mark to begin the campaign, is the second-best start to any season in the program's NCAA era.
    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, which won 13 of its first 14 games overall to begin that year, finished the season 21-7 and made the fifth of its seven-straight NCAA Tournament appearances.

A DECADE OF DOMINANCE: Dixie State closed out the 2010-19 decade as one of the most dominant programs in the NCAA Division II ranks. DSU posted a 208-74 (.737) overall record and captured six Pacific West Conference championships (two PacWest tournament crowns) over that 10-year span. In addition, the program earned eight NCAA Tournament bids, including seven-straight NCAA postseason appearances from 2010-16.
    Dixie State notched six 20-win seasons in the decade, including a NCAA-era record 23 victories in the 2017-18 season.
    DSU also began the decade with a seven-game winning streak and won 10 of its first 11 games overall to finish that year 15-3 (20-6 overall), while the Trailblazers closed the decade, coincidentally, by winning 10 of its final 11 games over the first two months of the 2019-20 season. 

DON'T CALL IT A COMEBACK: Dixie State's come-from-behind overtime victory at New Mexico Highlands (109-108; 12/13/19), 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 (2/15/14), 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: Despite the loss at WOU last month, Dixie State is 76-67 (.531) all-time against non-conference opponents in 13-plus seasons of four-year competition, which includes a 5-1 mark this season, 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).
    Thanks to its 5-1 non-conference record this season, 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 128-28 (.820) overall record on its home floor under Head Coach Jon Judkins, including a 5-1 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?: Dixie State is 126-89 (.586) in 215 games away from home in its Division II era under Head Coach Jon Judkins. Overall, the Trailblazers have played to a 98-68 record (.590) 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 72-straight games, including eight treys vs. Mines last Saturday, and a season-high 11 3-pointers at New Mexico Highlands (12/13).
    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 273 of its last 275 games overall, and in 367 of the program's 371 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 averaged averaged 19.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 3.5 steals in Dixie State home split last weekend, highlighted by a career night in the OT loss vs. Mines last Saturday. The senior poured in a career-high 23 points on 8-of-15 shooting (4-of-7 3FG) along with five assists, five boards and a career-best five steals.  
    He currently leads the RMAC in assists (6.3 apg - 16th-nationally), is second in assist/turnover ratio (2.2 - 82nd-nationally) and is sixth in rebounding (6.7 rpg - 238th-nationally), to go with his 13.0 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 over 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 12 of his first 13 games played this season with five 20-plus point outings, including a 24-point night with eight rebounds and two blocks vs. Mines last Saturday night.
*- Schofield poured in career-high 28 points on 11-of-21 shooting with nine rebounds at CSU-P (12/14) ... the junior registered 16 of those points in the second half, while his 21 FGA are tied for third on DSU's single-game list ... that performance came on the heels of a 25 point/5 rebound effort a night earlier at NMHU (12/13) ... Schofield currently leads the team in scoring (18.1 ppg - 4th-RMAC/T-108th-nationally) and rebounding (7.5 rpg - T-3rd RMAC/T-149th-nationally), while shooting 51.5 percent from the field.
 * - Junior guard Dason Youngblood has scored in double figures in five of his last six starts and in seven of 13 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 (12/13), then went for 13 points, four dimes and a career-best eight boards the next night at CSU-P (12/14) ... the junior also poured in 11 points with two assists and three steals vs. Mines last Saturday.
* - 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 (3.6 - 17th-nationally), and is 13th (and 170th-nationally) in assists per game (3.6).  
* - Freshman guard Frank Staine scored a career-high 20 points with six boards, three assists and three steals in the UCCS win last Friday ... the freshman poured 15 of those 20 points in the first half, and connected on 4-of-7 from the floor and 10-of-11 at the foul line overall ... Staine has scored in double figures in eight of his 13 starts, which included a then-career high 19 points in the come-from-behind win at NMHU (12/13) ... Staine is currently fourth the team in FG% (.495, 45-of-91) and second in 3FG% (.418 - 23-of-55) with a co-team high (with Pagenkopf) 23 3FGM to go with his 10.8 ppg average.
* - Senior reserve guard Andre Wilson served as a one of the catalysts in the Blazers' second half rally at NMHU (12/13) 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).
* - Wilson's 14 points at NMHU 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) ... the senior also scored 10 points off the bench at WOU (12/20) and currently leads the team in 3FG% (.447; 17-of-38).
* - Senior forward Cameron Chatwin was solid in his first RMAC road trip of the year as he averaged 8.5 points and 4.5 rebounds off the bench against both NMHU and CSU-P ... Chatwin hit all three of his shots with two 3-pointers to finish with eight points in 15 minutes at NMHU (12/13), then when for nine points on 4-of-7 shooting and eight rebounds in 21 minutes at CSU-P (12/14).
* - 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.
* - 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 ... Parker also poured in a career-high eight points in the loss at WOU (12/20).
* - Junior forward Jarod Greene got his first starting nod of the year at WOU (12/20), against which his scored nine points with five rebounds in 19 minutes ... Greene has started each of the last three games overall and his averaging 7.0 ppg in this current stretch ... the junior forward had averaged 5.3 points in 11.3 reserve minutes over his first 10 games in a Blazer uniform, highlighted by 15-point night on 5-of-7 shooting vs. UT-Tyler (11/9).
* - Sophomore forward Jacob Nicolds tied a career high with eight points on 2-of-2 shooting and a 3-of-4 effort at the line in the loss vs. Mines last Saturday ... Nicolds showed a bit of a "shooter's touch" in knocking down his first career 3-pointer in the first half of the game as the ball seemed to bounce off virtually every part of the rim before dropping through the net.
* - DSU reserves have outscored their opponent's reserves by a combined 326-199 (25.0 ppg-15.3 ppg) count through 13 games this season, including a season-best +23 (36-13) edge at NMHU (12/13), and a +20 clip (30-10) at WOU (12/20) ... DSU's bench has outscored its opponents' reserves in nine of 13 games overall.
* - Dixie State's 109 points scored at NMHU (12/13) 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) in November ... 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).  
* - DSU's overtime loss to Mines last Saturday snapped a five-game OT win streak, which included OT wins at NMHU (12/13) and vs. UT-Tyler (11/9) earlier this season ... The DSU/Mines OT game was just the 32nd overtime game in the program's NCAA era (371 games), and DSU is 20-12 all-time in overtime games ... Four of those 32 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 51 of its last 96 games decided by nine points or less, including six of the first 13 games this season.
* - Also dating back to 2016-17, Dixie State has shot 50 percent or better in 33 of its last 91 games overall, including the last three of its last six outings overall, highlighted by a season-high 56.9 clip (33-of-58) at NMHU (12/13).
* - DSU has dished out 236 assists (18.2 apg - 1st in RMAC/17th-nationally) to just 161 turnovers (12.4 tpg - 59th-nationally) through the first 13 games of the year ... DSU is tops in the RMAC and ranked 26th-nationally in assist/turnover ratio (1.47).
* - 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 12 of its first 13 games of the year, highlighted by a season-best +19 margin (46-27) vs. LSSU (11/22), and in 52 of its last 65 games dating back to the 2017-18 campaign ... Dixie State is second in the RMAC and is ranked 81st-nationally in rebounding margin (+6.5), and is ranked 10th-nationally in defensive rebounds with an RMAC-leading 30.2 drpg average.

ABOUT THE MSU DENVER "ROADRUNNERS": MSU Denver enters Friday's match-up having lost five of its last seven games, all in RMAC play, this after an impressive 4-2 start in non-conference action. MSUD is coming off a tough road trip that saw the Roadrunners drop consecutive decisions at Fort Lewis (65-78) and at Adams State (73-91) last weekend.
    Senior guard Druce Asah (6-4) is the lone Roadrunner averaging double figures at 14.6 ppg and is MSUD's top perimeter threat having hit 30 (30-of-80; .375) of his team's 100 3FG through 13 games.

ABOUT THE CHADRON STATE "EAGLES": Chadron State, which hosts Westminster College on Friday night before Saturday's game vs. DSU, stopped a five-game losing skid with an impressive 83-71 win at Fort Lewis last Saturday night.
    Three Eagle starters average double figures, led by senior forward Brian Rodriguez-Flores (6-4) at 16.9 ppg. Rodriguez-Flores also leads the team in rebounding (6.0 rpg) and is second in FG% (.506; 76-of-150), which includes a .485 clip (33-of-68) from the perimeter.

UP NEXT: Dixie State opens a four-game homestand next weekend with a pair of RMAC match-ups against Colorado Christian on Friday, Jan. 17, and Regis on Saturday, Jan. 18. Tip-off inside the Burns Arena for both games is slated for 7:30 p.m.