Game Notes: DIXIE STATE - PDF | SUU - PDF
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OPENING TIP: Dixie State (7-5/0-0 WAC) will put a bow on the non-conference portion of its 2021-22 schedule, and put its six-game win streak on the line, this Wednesday night when the Trailblazers make the short trip up the I-15 to Cedar City play at in-state rival, and future WAC opponent, Southern Utah (7-4).
    Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m., inside the America First Event Center (5,300) on the SUU campus.
  
DIXIE STATE VS. SOUTHERN UTAH: Despite being separated by 54 total miles, Wednesday night's game vs. SUU will be just the third meeting between the Trailblazers and Thunderbirds on the basketball court in the NCAA era for both programs.
    The two sides met for the first time in St. George since the junior college days back on Nov. 12, when the Trailblazers evened the series at a game apiece with an 83-76 home triumph.
    DSU used a 15-2 first-half run to bolt to a 47-30 halftime lead, only to see the T-Birds rally to make a one-possession game late in regulation. Dixie State answered with seven-straight points and made its free throws in the closing moments to come away with the win.
    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 rivalry will kick into high gear next season when SUU moves from the Big Sky Conference to join DSU as a new member of the Western Athletic Conference.

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 picked up its first road victory of the 2021-22 season with 78-69 win at North Dakota last Saturday afternoon in Grand Forks.
    After falling behind by double digits early in the first half, the Blazers rattled off a 16-4 run to turn a 19-9 deficit into a 25-23 lead. DSU led 34-33 at the halftime break, and used an 8-0 spurt and a 12-4 run to extend to a 58-42 advantage with 11 minutes to play.
    UND mounted a late charge and cut the Blazer lead to five at 70-65 with just over three minutes remaining, but DSU hit its free throws late to salt away its first road win of the year and sixth-straight victory overall.

JUDKINS NOW NO. 1 IN UTAH: Head Coach Jon Judkins became the all-time winningest head coach in Utah collegiate basketball history with career victory No. 583 in DSU's 114-49 home rout of SAGU-AIC last Wednesday in the Burns Arena.
    Judkins moved past legendary Utah head women's basketball coach Elaine Elliott (582-324) atop the state's all-time coaching victories list (men's and women's). That list also includes a pair of former Dixie State coaches in Dave Rose (1990-97 before moving on to BYU) and Stan Watts (1941-45 before moving on to Utah), along with such names at Stew Morrill (Utah State) and Rick Majerus (Utah).
    Including the win Saturday at North Dakota, Judkins now owns a 584-279 (.676) overall record during his time at both Dixie State and Snow College (1992-2005).
    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 was 284-128 on the Badger sideline. Also of note, his older brother Jeff Judkins, who is currently the head women's coach at BYU, is sixth on the state's all-time collegiate wins list (439-201).

CHALK UP ANOTHER MILESTONE WIN FOR COACH: Coach Judkins also reached his second career milestone in as many games as he won his 300th game as Dixie State head coach last Saturday at North Dakota.
    Coach Judkins is 300-151 (.665) in 16-plus years at Dixie State, including a 280-139 (.668) mark in the program's NCAA era.

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.  

HOME SWEET HOME: Since joining the NCAA ranks in 2006-07, Dixie State has played to a 144-37 (.795) overall record inside the Burns Arena under Head Coach Jon Judkins. Bolstered by a 5-1 homestand, the Blazers are now 6-1 at home this season, this after going 5-7 in their D-I debut season last year, 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-plus 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 moved to 1-4 (1-3 in true road games) away from home this season after the Blazers' win at North Dakota last Saturday.
    DSU 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 135-103 (.567) in 238 games away from home in its NCAA era under Coach Judkins, which includes a 107-81 record (.569) in true road games, and a 28-22 mark (.560) in neutral site games during Judkins' tenure. That neutral mark includes last month's Texas State (11/19 in Northridge, Calif.) game, which served as the Blazers' first neutral court tilt 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 win at UND last Saturday, Dixie State moved to 88-76 (.536) 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).
    Last Saturday's win at North Dakota also clinched DSU's ninth winning non-conference season overall in its four-year era, which is 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).

FROM WAY DOWNTOWN....BANG: Dixie State saw its three-game stretch of hitting 10 or more 3-pointers halted last Saturday at North Dakota after the Blazers were held to a "pedestrian" seven made threes.
    DSU closed out its six-game homestand by hitting at least 10 3-pointers in three-straight games, this after only doing it just 21 times the previous 417 NCAA era games overall.
    DSU knocked down 11 treys in the Saint Katherine win (12/4), and followed that up with a then-school record 16 3FGM vs. Denver at week later (12/11).  
    The Blazers then went off against SAGU-AIC last Wednesday, hitting a school record 21 3-pointers, which was one of five 3FG school records to fall that night. DSU also broke records for first half 3FGM (10), second half 3FGM (11), and for 3FG attempted (37). In addition, 11 different Trailblazers hit at least one 3-pointer, which was another school record.
    Dixie State has now hit at least one 3-pointer in 122-straight games with 24 games of at least 10 3FGM.
     In addition, Dixie State has hit at least one three pointer in 323 of its last 325 games overall, and in 418 of the program's 421 NCAA-era games since the beginning of the 2006-07 season.

NINETY AND NINE: For the first time in the program's NCAA era, Dixie State scored 97 or more points in three-straight games when the Blazers lit the scoreboard for 99 points twice against Bethesda (11/30 and 12/1), and 97 vs. USK (12/4).
    Then after an 82-point night in the Denver win (12/11), DSU erupted for a season-high 114 points in the SAGU-AIC win (12/15), which is the second-most points in the program's NCAA era. In all, DSU averaged 93.5 points over its just concluded six-game homestand.
    Dixie State is 56-6 all-time when scoring at least 90 points, including a 43-5 mark in games of 90-99 points, and a 13-1 record when the Blazers eclipse the century mark.

MOVING UP THE CHARTS: Dixie State has moved up the WAC rankings during its current streak. Thanks in part to those lopsided home wins, the Blazers enter the week as the conference leaders in 3FG% (.384), second in both points/game (82.8 ppg) and assists/game (18.16 apg), and third in 3FGM/game (8.8).
    In addition, IF Dixie State was eligible to be ranked in the official NCAA national statistics during its D-I transition, the Trailblazers would be currently ranked 11th-nationally in assists/game, 14th-nationally in points/game and 28th in the country in 3FG%.

GONZO GOES FOR WAC WEEKLY HONOR: Freshman guard Noa Gonsalves was named TicketSmarter WAC Men's Basketball Freshman of the Week on Monday for his stellar play off the bench in the Trailblazers' two victories last week.  
    Gonsalves averaged 10.0 points on 61.5 percent shooting (.571 3FG), 4.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 19.0 reserve minutes in the two games. He opened the week with eight points (2-of-4 3FG), three rebounds and three assists in last Wednesday's 114-49 rout of SAGU American Indian College.
    The freshman followed that up with a career-high 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting (2-of-3 3FG) in the Blazers' 78-69 road win at North Dakota this past Saturday. Gonsalves, who also tied a career-high with five boards to go with three more dimes at UND, scored seven of his 12 points in a 16-4 run Trailblazer run that saw DSU erase an early 10-point deficit and take its first lead of the day.
 
GOODEN-PLENTY: Junior guard Cameron Gooden earned Dixie State's first WAC award this season when he was named conference player of the week back on Dec. 13, after he scored a season-high 22 points and dished out six assists in the Denver win (12/11).
    Gooden, who tallied 10 points last Saturday at North Dakota, has scored in double figures in 10 of his 12 starts this season, and averaged 14.3 points and nearly four assists during DSU's just completed homestand.
    Additionally, he has dished out four or more assists eight times overall, though he was held without an assist for just the second time in 33 career games as a Blazer in the UND win.
    Gooden earned All-Tournament Team honors at the CSUN Good Sam Empire Classic, which was highlighted by 20 points and a career-best eight rebounds at CSUN (11/13). Gooden also led DSU in scoring against both Texas State (18 pts; 11/19) and at then-No. 24 USC (17 pts; 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 went for 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 24 of 33 games as a Trailblazer, and has led or co-led the team in scoring 16 times overall.

"SCORE"FIELD GETTING IT DONE IN-STATE: Senior forward Hunter Schofield has feasted on in-state opponents over his two-plus season as a Trailblazer.
    Schofield kept that trend going in the first meeting vs. SUU back on Nov. 12, when he poured in a season-high 29 points in the 83-76 home win. The senior knocked down 12 of his 19 shot attempts, including 8-of-12 shooting in the first half, and just missed his chance to tie or set a new career high in points after he fouled out with 1:12 to play.
    In seven career games vs. in-state foes, Schofield is averaging 18.7 ppg on nearly 56 percent shooting, highlighted by a career-high 31 points (11-of-16 FG) in a road win at Utah Valley last February (2/13/21). In addition, Schofield has scored double figures in six of those seven in-state games, including 11 points vs. Weber State last month (11/27), and has recorded three 25-plus point outings overall.
    
MORE ON SCHOFIELD: Schofield entered some rarefied air in game one vs. Bethesda (11/30) as he went a perfect 9-for-9 from the floor 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 other 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 vs. Bethesda (12/1) with his first (and sixth career) double-double of the year with 17 points on 8-of-14 shooting and 10 rebounds.
    Schofield's recent tear has also vaulted him up the career charts as he is currently third in career scoring average (14.8 ppg), fifth in FGM (365), t-sixth in rebounding average (5.8 rpg), and eighth in scoring (934 pts), rebounds (368) and in FG% (.520).

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 to go with one rebound and a steal in 24 minutes in his return to his hometown area.
* - Staine saw his streak of scoring in double figures stopped at five-straight starts after he tallied nine points at North Dakota last Saturday ... Staine has scored 10 or more points in six of his last eight outings overall, including 15 points on 5-of-5 from 3-point country vs. SAGU-AIC last Wednesday.
* - In fact, Staine became the first player in Dixie State's NCAA era to hit his first five 3-point attempts.
* - Staine also became eligible to be ranked on DSU's career 3FG percentage list, and thanks to his hot shooting vs. SAGU-AIC currently stands in sixth place (.402) overall on that list ... Staine's 87 3FGM in 62 career games are also good for eighth on DSU's career list.
* - Speaking of perfection, freshman guard Hunter Bohls would be hard-pressed to top what he did in his two minutes vs. SAGU-AIC (11/15) ... Bohls hoisted up his first three collegiate shots - all from beyond the arc, and knocked them all down for nine points.
* - Schofield was not the only Blazer to not only double up, but have a perfect night, vs. Bethesda (11/30) 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 vs. Bethesda (12/1) ... the 5-10 guard dished out six assists and pulled down a career-best eight rebounds to go with two points and two steals in 23 minutes of action ... Gilbert also tied a season-high with eight assists vs. USK (8 vs. SUU - 11/12).  
* - Junior forward Dancell Leter reached double figures during DSU's most recent homestand three times, including a 12-point night in the Denver win (12/11) ... Leter hit 6-of-6 at the line and 3-of-5 from the floor to go with six rebounds.
* - Freshman guard Andre Mulibea continued his solid play off the bench as he was one of five Blazers to score in double figures with 11 points vs. USK (12/4) ... in fact, all 11 of Mulibea's points, including three 3-pointers, came over the last 2:47 of the first half as he accounted for all but two of DSU's final 13 points of the frame.
* - Mulibea also knocked down what turned out to be both initial record-breaking 3-pointers, including the 14th trey vs. Denver (12/11), and the 17th trifecta vs. SAGU-AIC last Wednesday.
* - After throwing down just three total dunks in 21 games last season, the Trailblazers already have eight dunks through the first 12 games this year - all of which have come over the last eight games, including three last Saturday vs. USK (12/4).
* - Sophomore reserve guard Jamaal Barnes has accounted for two of those dunks, one in both wins vs. Bethesda  ... Barnes has averaged 7.0 points during DSU's six-game win streak, highlighted by a season high 11 points vs. SAGU-AIC (11/15), though he DNP at UND last Saturday.
* - DSU's bench combined to outscore the SAGU-AIC reserves by a whopping 64-18 margin ... the 64 bench points eclipsed the previous season-high of 57 set in game one vs. Bethesda (11/30), against which the Blazer reserves combined to outscore their Flame counterparts by a 101-55 clip in the two wins.
* - Through 12 games, DSU's bench has outscored its opponent reserves by a 398-288 margin (33.1 ppg-24.0 ppg), and in nine of 12 games overall 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).
* - 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 game two win (12/1) ... 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.
* - Since the 2016-17, Dixie State has shot 50 percent or better in just 49 of its last 143 games overall, though the Blazers have shot better than 50 percent four times through 12 games this season.
* - DSU shot a season-high 57.6 percent (34-of-59) vs. USK (12/4), and 51.9 percent vs. SAGU-AIC (12/15).
*- DSU only shot better than 50 percent twice last season, the first being a season-high 63.2 percent vs. Bethesda (12/19/20) ... 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).
* - Also dating back to the 2016-17 season, Dixie State has had 71 of its last 146 games decided by nine points or less, including 12 of 33 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 rebound margin in the two wins ... in fact DSU's 59 rebounds in game one (11/30) are the third-most in a single game in the program's NCAA era, while the 56 caroms in game two (12/1) are tied for 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.
* - DSU also matched its season high with 59 rebounds in the SAGU-AIC win (59-33 rebound margin) ... freshman Trey Edmonds clear a game and career-high eight of those missed shots to go with a career-best eight points off the bench.  
* - Uncharacteristically, Dixie State lost the "Battle of the Boards" in 12 of 21 games last season, though it has outrebounded its opponent in seven of 12 games this season (6-1) ... overall, the Blazers have outrebounded an opponent in 82 of its last 119 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 comes into Wednesday night's game with a 7-4 record, which includes a 6-3 mark after the T-Birds lost at Dixie State back on Nov. 12. The Thunderbirds, who currently own the state's longest current home court winning streak at 18-straight games, saw their own six-game win streak come to an end last Saturday in an 87-50 road loss at Big Ten power Michigan.
    SUU boasts four players averaging double figures, led by senior guard John Knight III at 17.0 ppg on 59.2 percent shooting, while senior forward Maizen Fausett is averaging nearly a double-double at 11.0 points and a team-high 8.5 rebounds a game.
    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 80-76 overall.

UP NEXT: Dixie State rings in the New Year, and begin its second season of WAC play next weekend with a pair of conference home games. DSU will kick off its league slate vs. Tarleton State on Thursday, Dec. 30, and will welcome in WAC newcomer Abilene Christian on Saturday, Jan. 1. Tip-off both nights inside the Burns Arena will be at 7 p.m.