Game Notes: DIXIE STATE - PDF | SUU - PDF
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OPENING TIP: Dixie State (0-1/0-0 WAC) begins a stretch that will see the Trailblazers play seven of their next 10 games at home, starting with their home opener this Friday night against in-state rival Southern Utah (1-0). Tip-off inside the Burns Arena is slated for 7 p.m.

DIXIE STATE VS. SOUTHERN UTAH: Despite being separated by 54 total miles, Friday night's game vs. SUU will be just the second meeting between the Trailblazers and Thunderbirds on the basketball court in the NCAA era.
    In addition, this will be the first time the in-state rivals will have played in St. George since the 1962-63 season, when both competed in the junior college ranks.
    Last season, the two sides reignited the regional rivalry in Cedar City, where the T-Birds claimed a hard-fought 85-78 home victory (12/17/20).
    The two sides will play again next month in Cedar City (12/22), and SUU is set to join the Western Athletic Conference next season.

DIXIE STATE ON THE AIR: All Dixie State Division I home and away games this season will be broadcast live on ESPN Radio 97.7 FM, with Devin Dixon calling the play-by-play action and former DSU assistant coach Mike Olson providing color commentary. A live stream of the radio broadcast will be available at sportsradio977.com.
    Along with the radio coverage, all Dixie State home games and Western Athletic Conference games will be streamed live on ESPN+.
     In August, the WAC announced a new multi-year, multi-platform media rights agreement with the "The Worldwide Leader" that will see over 500 annual events on ESPN+ and the ESPN app.

LAST TIME OUT: Dixie State stepped on to the national stage to open the 2021-22 season this past Tuesday night when the Trailblazers squared off against preseason No. 1-ranked Gonzaga inside "The Kennel" in Spokane, Wash.
    Despite a late first-half run, and another rally just after halftime, the Trailblazers could not overcome an overall slow start as the Zags rolled to a 97-63 victory.
    Junior guard Cameron Gooden led Dixie State with 15 points, while junior newcomer Dancell Leter added 13 points in his Trailblazer debut.

TRAILBLAZERS PICKED 12TH IN THE WAC: Dixie State was voted to finish 12th by both the coaches and the media as the Western Athletic Conference announced its 2021-22 conference men's basketball preseason polls on Oct. 19.
    New Mexico State was overwhelming pick to reclaim its crown in 2021-22 as the Aggies received eight first place votes and 138 points in the coaches' poll, and was favorite among the media pollsters as well.
    Defending WAC champion Grand Canyon collected three first place votes and 131 points to finish second in the coaches' rankings, while the Lopes were voted third in the media poll. Meanwhile, conference newcomer Stephen F. Austin garnered one first place nod and 106 points to finish third in the coaches' poll and second in the media poll.
    The rest of the coaches poll listed Utah Valley (103 pts) in fourth, WAC newcomer (and 2020-21 Southland champion) Abilene Christian (1 FPV; 92 pts) in fifth, Seattle U (90 pts) in sixth, WAC newcomer Sam Houston (86 pts) in seventh, California Baptist (84 pts) in eighth, Tarleton State (48) and UTRGV (48 pts) in t-ninth, conference newcomer Lamar (41 pts) in 11th, DSU (35 pts) in 12th, and Chicago State (12 pts) in 13th.
    Rounding out the media poll was ACU in fourth, followed by UVU, CBU, SHSU, Seattle U, Tarleton, Lamar, UTRGV, DSU and CSU.  

577 AND COUNTING: Head Coach Jon Judkins enters the 2021-22 season on the cusp of becoming the all-time leader in coaching victories in Utah college basketball history. Over his first 27 years as a head coach, Judkins has posted a 577-274 (.678) overall record, including a 293-146 (.667) mark in 16 years at Dixie State (273-134 - NCAA era).
    Judkins needs only six more wins to pass 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.
    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. Prior to his arrival at DSU, Judkins spent 12 full seasons at Snow (UT) College, where he went 284-128 on the Badger sideline.
 
HOME SWEET HOME: Since joining the NCAA ranks in 2006-07, Dixie State has played to a 140-36 (.795) overall record in the Burns Arena under Head Coach Jon Judkins, which includes a 5-7 record last season, and a 12-2 mark in DSU's final D-II year in 2019-20.
    In fact, DSU has recorded 13 home winning season records in 15 years of NCAA competition overall, though last season's 5-7 result was the first time in that 13-year winning stretch that the Blazers did not finish above .500 at home.
    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.
    
HOW ABOUT WHEN THE BAGS ARE PACKED?: Dixie State finished the 2020-21 campaign with a 3-6 overall road mark, which snapped an 11-year run that saw DSU post a winning road record.
    The last time Dixie State did not come away with a winning road record was all the way back in the 2007-08 season, when it went 4-11 away from home in the program's second year of Division-II competition.
    Dixie State is now 134-100 (.572) in 234 games away from home in its NCAA era under Coach Judkins following last Tuesday's loss at Gonzaga.
    DSU owns a 106-79 record (.573) in true road games, and a 28-21 mark (.571) in neutral site games during Judkins' tenure.
    DSU has won eight or more games away from home in 11 of its 15 NCAA campaigns overall, including a program best 15-5 record (10-2 in road contests) in 2010-11.

AGAINST NON-CONFERENCE OPPONENTS: Dixie State is now 81-72 (.529) all-time against non-conference opponents in 15-plus seasons of NCAA competition. That record includes a 4-3 record in the Blazers' NCAA D-I debut last season, a 6-2 mark in the program's last D-II season in 2019-20, and an 11-14 record in the program's first year of NCAA play (2006-07).
    Additionally, DSU owns a combined 7-14 postseason record (4-4 PacWest, 1-2 RMAC, 2-8 NCAA).
    DSU has recorded eight winning seasons in non-conference games in its four-year era, highlighted by 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....: Tuesday's loss at Gonzaga snapped Dixie State's modest two-game season opening win streak. DSU is now an even 8-8 all-time in season-opening games during the program's NCAA era.
    On the flip side, the Blazers are 11-4 in 15 Burns Arena debuts as a four-year program and has won eight of its last nine home openers overall.  

RELEASE...ROTATION...SPLASH: Dixie State has hit at least one 3-pointer in 111-straight games, including eight treys last Tuesday at Gonzaga, highlighted by a 6-of-9 effort from beyond the arc in the second half.
    Dixie State reached double figures in made 3-pointers three times last season, all of which resulted in Trailblazer wins, which included 12 made treys (12-of-29) in a home win vs. Saint Katherine (12/5).
    That effort was one off the school record of 13 first set at Carroll College on Nov. 11, 2008, while the Blazers have reached double-figures in made 3-pointers 21 times in its four-year era overall.
    In all, Dixie State has hit at least one three pointer in 312 of its last 314 games overall, and in 407 of the program's 410 NCAA-era games since the beginning of the 2006-07 season.
    
FROM WAY DOWNTOWN...CLANG: While Dixie State knocked down 12 3-pointers vs. Saint Katherine (12/5), the Trailblazer defense made a little history on the defensive side of things.
    For the FIRST TIME in the program's NCAA era (390th game overall), DSU held a team without a 3-point make as the Firebirds misfired on all 18 of their shots from beyond the arc.
    Prior to the SKU win, the previous 3FGM opponent low was one, which was recorded in consecutive games all the way back in the 2012-13 season at Notre Dame de Namur (1-of-9; 2/16/13) and at home vs. BYU-Hawaii (1-of-10; 2/23/13).

BLAZING TRAILS:
* - Junior guard Cameron Gooden picked up right where he left off from last season as went for a team-high 15 points in 31 minutes at Gonzaga last Tuesday ... Gooden hit 6-of-12 from the floor to go with a team-high five assists and three rebounds.
* - Gooden has now scored in double figures in 14 of 21 games as a Trailblazer and has led the team in scoring 10 times overall ... Gooden also paced the Blazers with 20 points at Gonzaga last season (12/29/20), which was three points off his career high of 23 set in a road win at Denver (12/12/20).
* - Junior forward Dancell Leter made the most of his Trailblazer debut, pouring in 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting with a pair of 3-pointers at Gonzaga on Tuesday ... Leter, who got the start, also collected four boards, one steal and one block in 23 minutes.
* - Sophomore guard Isaiah Pope just missed reaching double figures at Gonzaga as he finished with eight points on a pair of 3-pointers and two free throws in 14 reserve minutes.
* - Senior forward Hunter Schofield battled foul trouble throughout his start at Gonzaga on Tuesday ... Schofield was limited to just five points and did not record a rebound in 24 minutes of action before fouling out in the second half.
* - Schofield failed to record a rebound for just the second time in 52 career games as a Trailblazer, with the first instance coming in DSU's final D-II game vs. Colorado Mesa in the RMAC tournament semifinals in the Burns Arena (3/6/20).
* - Junior guard Brock Gilbert made his third career start in Tuesday's game at Gonzaga and responded with five points on 2-of-3 shooting along with four rebounds and four assists in 18 minutes.
* - Freshman guard Noa Gonsalves led the Blazers with five rebounds in his collegiate debut, and hit his first shot attempt - a 3-pointer - which helped kick start a late first-half rally.
* - Dixie State wrapped up its first year of D-I play with an 8-13 overall record, which included a 4-10 mark in WAC play ... the Trailblazers posted six wins against Division I opponents in its debut season at the D-I level.
* - DSU was the only program in the WAC that did not have to go through an extended COVID-19 pandemic shutdown, and was the only team in the conference to play their full slate of league games (not including the Chicago State season shutdown).
* - Schofield was named to the 2020-21 CoSIDA Division I Men's Basketball CoSIDA Academic All-America Second Team ... Schofield (3.95 GPA) is the third Trailblazer player in the program's NCAA era to earn Second Team Academic All-America honors, joining former Blazers Josh Fuller (2016-17) and Brandon Simister (2017-18) on the prestigious list.
* - DSU's bench was outscored by the Zags reserves by a 35-21 count on Tuesday night ... last season DSU outscored its opponent reserves by a 466-406 margin (22.2-19.3 ppg) in 21 games (11-of-21 games overall) ... in 2019-20, DSU reserves outscored its opponents' reserves in 22 of 30 games played (748-571/24.9 ppg-19.0 ppg).
* - Since the 2016-17, Dixie State has shot 50 percent or better in just 45 of its last 132 games overall, and only shot better than 50 percent twice last season, the first being a season-high 63.2 percent vs. Bethesda (12/19) ... that performance broke a string of 66 games from the last time the Trailblazers shot at least 60 percent from the floor (60.0% vs. Holy Names - 2/19/18).
* - DSU also shot a WAC (and D-I opponent) season high 51.7 percent (30-of-58) in the win at Utah Valley (2/13).
* - Also dating back to the 2016-17 season, Dixie State has had 68 of its last 135 games decided by nine points or less, including nine of 20 games against D-I opponents to this point of the program's transition.
* - Uncharacteristically, Dixie State lost the "Battle of the Boards" in 12 of 21 games last season, and was outrebounded by a 45-36 count at Gonzaga last Tuesday ... overall, the Blazers have outrebounded an opponent in 75 of its last 106 games going back to the 2017-18 campaign.
* - DSU is 20-13 all-time in overtime games ... four of those 33 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.

ABOUT THE SOUTHERN UTAH "THUNDERBIRDS": Southern Utah opened the 2021-22 season with a lopsided 116-74 home victory over Bethesda University last Tuesday night in Cedar City.
    Five T-Birds scored in double figures, led by senior guard Dre Marin with a game-high 20 points, while preseason all-Big Sky Conference selections Tevian Jones and John Knight III had 18 and 16 points, respectively.
    SUU, which won the Big Sky regular season title last season (20-4/12-2 BSC), was tabbed as the preseason conference favorites by both the coaches and media.
    Todd Simon (Central Michigan, 2003), who was voted Big Sky Coach of the Year last season, is in his sixth season as head coach at SUU, where he is currently 74-72 overall.

UP NEXT: Dixie State travels to Northridge, Calif., next weekend to take part in the 2021 CSUN Good Sam Empire Classic. DSU will open tourney play against Texas State on Friday, Nov. 19, at 11 a.m. (PT).
    The Blazers will then face either Eastern Washington or the host Matadors on Saturday, Nov. 20, though the time/opponent will not be determined until after the end of play on Friday.