Game Notes: DIXIE STATE - PDF | USK
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OPENING TIP: Dixie State (3-5/0-0 WAC) continues its season long six-game homestand this Saturday night as the Trailblazers welcome in Saint Katherine (3-3) to the Burns Arena. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m.
  
DIXIE STATE AGAINST SKU: Saturday's game vs. Saint Katherine will be the second meeting between the Trailblazers and Firebirds on the basketball court. Last season, DSU claimed an 86-48 home victory nearly one year to the day (12/5/20) of this Saturday's tilt.
    Dixie State will see a familiar face on the SKU bench on Saturday as third-year Firebird head coach Kevin Williamson served two seasons on Trailblazer coaching staff from 2015-17.
        
DIXIE STATE ON THE AIR: All Dixie State Division I home and select road 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 snapped its four-game losing streak in a big way with a pair of blowout victories over Bethesda University this past Tuesday and Wednesday nights in the Burns Arena.
    In fact, both wins were near carbon copies of each other on the DSU stat sheet, starting with the Trailblazers 99-61 triumph in game one. DSU went 36-of-71 from the floor (.507), including a 6-of-24 clip (.250) from the perimeter, and was 21-of-26 (.808) from the foul line. The Blazers also pulled down a season-high 59 rebounds and outrebounded the Flames by a 59-31 count.
    Dixie State followed that up with a 99-67 win in the game two, during which the Blazers hit on 36-of-77 (.468) of their shot attempts, 7-of-21 (.333) from 3-point country. DSU also went 20-of-26 (.769) at the line and won the battle of the boards by a 56-40 margin.

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.  

580 AND COUNTING: Head Coach Jon Judkins enters this long homestand on the cusp of becoming the all-time leader in coaching victories in Utah college basketball history. After DSU's two-game sweep of Bethesda, Judkins owns a 580-279 (.675) overall record during his time at both Dixie State and Snow College (1992-2005).
    Judkins now stands three wins shy of passing legendary University of Utah head women's basketball 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.

MILESTONE #2 ALSO ON THE HORIZON: Coach Judkins is also close to another coaching milestone as he is now four wins shy of 300 career wins at Dixie State.
    Coach Judkins is 296-151 (.662) mark in 16-plus years at Dixie State, including a 276-139 (.665) mark in the program's NCAA era.
 
HOME SWEET HOME: Since joining the NCAA ranks in 2006-07, Dixie State has played to a 143-37 (.794) overall record in the Burns Arena under Head Coach Jon Judkins, which includes a 3-1 start this year, along with 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 134-103 (.565) in 237 games away from home in its NCAA era under Coach Judkins, which includes an 0-4 start this season.
    DSU owns a 106-81 record (.567) in true road games, and a 28-22 mark (.560) in neutral site games during Judkins' tenure, with last Friday's Texas State game serving as the Blazers' first neutral court game in the program's new D-I era.
    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: Following the DSU's home sweep of Bethesda, Dixie State is now 84-76 (.525) 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).

RELEASE...ROTATION...SPLASH: Dixie State has hit at least one 3-pointer in 118-straight games, including eight made treys at Gonzaga (11/9), and seven more in game two vs. Bethesda this past Wednesday night.  
    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 319 of its last 321 games overall, and in 414 of the program's 417 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 in last year's meeting (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).

DUNK YOU VERY MUCH: For just the seventh time in the program's NCAA era, Dixie State opened its scoring with a dunk when senior Hunter Schofield threw down a two-hand jam to get the Blazers on the board at USC back on Nov. 22.
    Schofield cleared the rebound to Cameron Gooden, who gave the streaking forward the ball back in transition at the top of the perimeter. Schofield then took one bounce and flew to the rack for the fast break finish.
    Schofield became just the sixth different Trailblazer in 417 NCAA era games to dunk home DSU's first points, and he is the first to do it in the program's D-I transition.
    The last Blazer player to open DSU's scoring with a dunk was former DSU All-American Trevor Hill, who hammered down the game's first points in Dixie State's NCAA D-II Men's Basketball Tournament West Regional first round game vs. Azusa Pacific (3/9/18).

STOP....THIEF: While the Blazer offense hitting on all cylinders in the sweep of Bethesda, the Dixie State defense came up just as clutch as the Trailblazers broke the program's NCAA era single-game steals record with 18 in Wednesday night's win.
    Three Trailblazers combined for nine of the team's 18 total steals on the night, with Dancell Leter, Cameron Gooden and Isaiah Pope each collecting three steals.
    In all, DSU forced 23 Flames' miscues on the night, which led to 28 Blazer points. The 18 steals eclipsed the previous record of 17 set twice, most recently at home vs. Dominican more than 10 years ago (2/10/11). DSU also had 17 steals at Adams State (11/18/06) in the program's third-ever NCAA game.

"SCORE"FIELD GETTING IT DONE IN-STATE: After being held to five points in the opener at Gonzaga (11/9), Schofield has been on tear, scoring in double figures in each of his next seven starts (16.4 ppg), highlighted by a season-high 29 points in the Southern Utah win (11/12).
    The senior forward entered some rarefied air in game one vs. Bethesda as he went a perfect 9-for-9 shooting for a game-high 18 points. Schofield joined former Trailblazers Mark Ogden Jr. (9-of-9 vs. Holy Names; 12/20/14) and Steven Larson (11-of-11 at Montana State-Billings; 11/16/12) as the only players in DSU's NCAA era to post a perfect shooting night with at least nine made field goals.
    Schofield continued his dominant play the next night with his first (and sixth career) double-double of the year with 17 points on 8-of-14 shooting and 10 rebounds. In fact, his 10 rebounds moved him into a tie for ninth place on DSU's career rebounding list (344; 5.8 rpg - t-6th on career list).      
    In addition, Schofield's current scoring run has vaulted him into eighth place on DSU's career points list (879 points), and he is ranked third all-time in career scoring average (14.9 ppg).

GOODEN-PLENTY: Gooden saw his modest seven-game (dating back to last season) streak of scoring 10 or more points halted by consecutive eight-point nights vs. Weber State (11/27) and in game one vs. Bethesda last Tuesday. That said, the junior guard roared back with authority with a team-high 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting along with three assists and a block against the Flames in game two.
    Gooden enjoyed a solid SoCal trip two weeks ago as he averaged 18.3 points and 5.3 rebounds in the three game swing. The 5-11 guard earned All-Tournament Team honors at the CSUN Good Sam Empire Classic, which was highlighted by a season-high 20 points and a career-best eight rebounds at CSUN (11/13). The junior also recorded his first blocked shot as a Trailblazer against the Matadors.
    Gooden also averaged 3.3 assists in the three games, including four dimes to go with a team-high 18 points vs. Texas State (11/19), and he led DSU with 17 points and four assists at then-No. 24 USC (11/22).
    Gooden picked up right where he left off from last season as went for a team-high 15 points in 31 minutes at then-No. 1 Gonzaga (11/9). Gooden hit on 6-of-12 shots to go with a team-high five assists and three rebounds.
    The junior then followed that up with 10 points and a career-high nine assists in the win over Southern Utah (11/12). His nine dimes bested his previous career high of six set at California Baptist (1/30/21) last season.
    Gooden has scored in double figures in 20 of 29 games as a Trailblazer, and has led or co-led the team in scoring 14 times overall.

BLAZING TRAILS:
* - Sophomore forward Frank Staine matched Gooden with a season-high 17 points at USC (11/22) ... the Inglewood native also  knocked down three 3-pointers with one rebound and a steal in 24 minute in his return to his hometown area ... Staine has also moved into 10th place on DSU's career 3FGM list (75).
* - Staine notched his first double-digit point game of the year with 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting vs. SUU (11/12), and posted consecutive 10-point nights in the two Bethesda wins ... Staine, who scored in double figures in 10 of 20 games last year with a pair of 19-point nights, has scored 10 or more points in 27 of his 58 career games as a Trailblazer.
* - Schofield was not the only Blazer to not only double up, but have a perfect night, vs. Bethesda as freshman forward Trevon Allfrey recorded his first collegiate double-double with 15 points and a career-high 10 rebounds in the game one win ... Allfrey, who also blocked three total shots over the two games, went 5-for-5 from both the field and the charity stripe in 18 reserve minutes.
* - Meanwhile, junior guard Brock Gilbert flirted with a double-double in his own right in game two ... the 5-10 guard dished out six assists and pulled down a career-best eight rebounds to with two points and two steals in 23 minutes of action.
* - Freshman guard Andre Mulibea was one of four Blazer players to score in double figures as he hit for a season-high 14 points in G1 vs. Bethesda ... the 14 points were one off of his career high of 15 he set last January at home vs. New Mexico (1/13).
* - After throwing down just three total dunks in 21 games last season, the Trailblazers already have three dunks through the first eight games this year - all of which have come over the last four games ... in addition to Schofield's game-opening flush at USC (11/22), sophomore guard Jamaal Barnes elevated for dunks in both wins vs. Bethesda earlier this week ... Barnes just missed scoring in double figures on Wednesday night as he hit 4-of-6 from the floor with a trey for nine points in six minutes off the bench.
* - 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 combined to outscore the Bethesda reserves by a 101-55 clip in the two wins ... bolstered by Allfrey and Mulibea, the Blazer bench accounted for 57 points (57-43) in game one, which was followed the next night by a lopsided 44-12 spread.
* - Through eight games, DSU's bench has outscored its opponent reserves by a 241-214 margin (30.1 ppg-26.7 ppg), and in five of eight games this season.
* - Last season DSU outscored its opponent reserves by a 466-406 margin (22.2-19.3 ppg) in 21 games (11-of-21 games) ... 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 47 of its last 139 games overall, though the Blazers managed to shoot 51.7 percent (31-of-60) in the SUU win (11/12), and 50.7 percent (36-of-71) in the first Bethesda win.
*- DSU 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 between 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 70 of its last 142 games decided by nine points or less, including 11 of 29 games in D-I contests to this point of the program's transition.
* - Dixie State crashed the boards in its sweep of Bethesda as the Blazers owned a plus-44 rebounding margin in the two wins ... in fact DSU's 59 rebounds in game one are the third-most in a single game in the program's NCAA era, while the 56 caroms in game two are tied for the seventh-most overall.
* - In addition, the two-game stretch also marked the first time in the program's four-year era that Dixie State posted consecutive 50-plus rebound games.
* - Uncharacteristically, Dixie State lost the "Battle of the Boards" in 12 of 21 games last season, and has been outrebounded in five of seven games this season ... overall, the Blazers have outrebounded an opponent in 77 of its last 115 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.

UP NEXT: Dixie State will take a week off for Fall Semester final exams before returning to action next Saturday night against the University of Denver. Tip-off inside the Burns Arena is scheduled for 7 p.m.