Game Notes: DIXIE STATE - PDF | TARLETON STATE - PDF
Live TV: KCEC-TV (TDS Channel 22)
Live Video: WAC DIGITAL NETWORK
Live Audio: ESPN RADIO 97.7 FM
Live Stats: GAME #1 / GAME #2
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OPENING TIP: Dixie State (7-10/3-7 WAC) opens its final homestand of the program's NCAA Division I debut season with a two-game set against fellow WAC/D-I newcomer Tarleton State (6-8/1-5 WAC) this Friday and Saturday nights. Tip-off inside the Burns Arena each night is set for 7 p.m. (MT).

DIXIE STATE VS. TARLETON STATE: This weekend's series vs. Tarleton will be the first-ever meetings between the Trailblazers and Texans on the basketball court.

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 DSU home games are simulcast on KCEC-TV (TDS Cable Channel 22), with tape-delay rebroadcasts throughout the following week, and live online on the WAC Digital Network. The WDN is also available on Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, and Roku TV, while the WDN app is available for iOS in the Apple Store and Android on Google Play.

HI, MY NAME IS ....: After 14 years as a competing member of the NCAA at the Division II level, Dixie State has embarked on its first season transitioning to Division I status as one of two new members (along with Tarleton State) of the Western Athletic Conference.  
    During their 14-year Division II era, the Trailblazers played to a 266-122 (.685) overall record. Dixie State won seven conference regular season championships (6 PacWest, 1 RMAC) and two postseason conference tournament crowns (PacWest 2013/2018).
    In addition, DSU made nine NCAA D-II Basketball Tournament appearances in 11 seasons since 2010, including seven-straight appearances from 2010-16, and advanced all the way to the West Regional final (Sweet 16) in 2011. Dixie State earned its final NCAA Tournament berth last season, but that appearance was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

LAST TIME OUT: Dixie State closed out the road portion of its 2020-21 slate with a hard-earned split of two games at in-state rival Utah Valley last weekend in Orem. After dropping the first game of the newly-minted "Old Hammer Rivalry" on Friday night, 87-72, the Trailblazers exacted a little revenge with a win in the game two on Saturday night, 93-89.
    Senior forward Hunter Schofield led all scorers with a career-high 31 points in the finale to help lead the Blazers to the victory.

STOP, HAMMER TIME: Just in time for the first WAC meeting between Dixie State and UVU, the two schools announced a new name for the renewed rivalry this past Feb. 10. "The Old Hammer Rivalry" will continue the tradition that had been formed during their junior college days to present day with both schools holding NCAA Division I status and sharing membership in the WAC.
    DSU and UVU will go head-to-head and compete for WAC titles against one another in baseball, m/w cross country, m/w golf, m/w basketball, m/w soccer, softball, women's track & field, and women's volleyball.

576 AND COUNTING: Head Coach Jon 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 (576 career wins; .680 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 SEVENTH/EIGHTH IN THE WAC: Dixie State was picked to finish seventh by the media and eighth by the coaches in its Western Athletic Conference debut season as the 2020-21 WAC men's basketball preseason polls were released on Oct. 27.
    Three-time defending WAC champion New Mexico State was tabbed as overwhelming favorite to win its fourth-straight conference crown. The Aggies claimed eight of nine first place votes to finish with 64 points in the coaches poll, and collected 10 more first place nods and 150 points in the media poll.
    In fact, the top five spots matched in both polls as Grand Canyon (1 FPV – 52 pts coaches/125 pts media) was voted second overall, followed by UT Rio Grande Valley (45 pts coaches/114 pts media) in third, California Baptist (43 pts coaches/2 FPV – 105 pts media) in fourth, and Seattle U (33 pts coaches/84 pts media) in fifth.
    WAC newcomer Tarleton State (31 pts) wound up sixth in the coaches poll, while Utah Valley (28 pts) was listed in seventh, DSU (20 pts) in eighth and Chicago State (8 pts) in ninth. Rounding out the media poll, UVU finished sixth (74 pts), followed by the Trailblazers (49 pts) in seventh, Tarleton State (46 pts) in eighth, and CSU (18 pts) in ninth.

HOME SWEET HOME: Since joining the NCAA ranks in 2006-07, Dixie State has played to a 139-33 (.808) overall record in the Burns Arena under Head Coach Jon Judkins, including a 4-4 start this year, and a 12-2 mark last season. In fact, DSU has recorded 13-straight home winning season records in 14 years of NCAA competition overall.
    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's split at UVU last weekend closed and up-and-down nine-game road slate for the Trailblazers in their D-I debut season.
    Despite book-ending road wins at Denver (73-70, 12/12/20) and UVU last Saturday, the Blazers came away 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 134-99 (.575) in 233 games away from home in its NCAA era under Coach Judkins, including a 106-78 record (.576) 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.

RELEASE...ROTATION...SPLASH: Dixie State has hit at least one 3-pointer in 106-straight games, which included 12 made treys (12-of-29) in the win vs. Saint Katherine (12/5), and 10 more trifectas (10-of-27) at Denver (12/12).
    In fact, when DSU posted back-to-back games with 10 or more 3FGM vs. SKU/at Denver, it marked just the second time in the program's NCAA era that the Blazers accomplished that feat.
    The first occurrence happened two full seasons ago when DSU hit with 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).
    Meanwhile, DSU only reached double figures in 3FGM twice all of last season, highlighted by a season-high 12 3-pointers at Westminster, (2/28/20) and 11 trifectas in the come-from behind win at New Mexico Highlands (12/13/19).
    In all, Dixie State has hit at least one three pointer in 307 of its last 309 games overall, and in 402 of the program's 405 NCAA-era games since the beginning of the 2006-07 season.
    In addition, Dixie State has reached double-figures in made 3-pointers 21 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.

FROM WAY DOWNTOWN...CLANG: While Dixie State was knocking 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).

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 (and 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.

FOR STARTERS: Dixie State did something in Friday night's loss at Utah Valley that had only happened on four occasions in the program's NCAA era - it failed to have a starter score in double figures.
    Two of the four previous instances did result in DSU wins, including a home triumph over Hawai'i-Hilo nearly seven years to the day (97-69, 2/13/14), and one year later at Dominican (86-83, 1/29/15). However the last time it happened, it resulted in a 76-59 road loss at Saint Martin's (12/18/18).
    The first time it happened was the 2011-12 season opener at home vs. Seattle Pacific (L, 42-58; 11/11/11), but in that game, NO DIXIE STATE PLAYER scored in double figures. That game remains as the only time in DSU's 405-game NCAA era that no player reached double figures in points.

SO WHAT ABOUT THE BENCH?: While the starters were held in check last Friday, the Trailblazer bench accounted for a season-high 45 of the team's 72 points, marking the second time this season the DSU reserves scored at least 40 points (40 vs. Saint Katherine - 12/5).
    The 45 points scored on Friday were the most since the Trailblazer reserves tallied 45 points nearly a year-to-the-day in a home win vs. Adams State (2/14/20).
    Freshman forward Trevon Allfrey led the way with a career-high 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting with a pair of 3-pointers. The freshman, who scored 12 of his 18 points after halftime, also just missed his first collegiate double-double as he pulled down a career and team-high nine rebounds and finished with a career-best three blocked shots in 22-plus minutes. Allfrey's previous career-high was 10 points scored in DSU's loss at No. 1 Gonzaga (12/29/20).
    Meanwhile, fellow freshman Andre Mulibea poured in a WAC season-high 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting, including a 3-of-6 clip from beyond the arc. Mulibea's 14 points were one off of his career-high of 15 points scored in a home loss to New Mexico back on Jan. 13.
    DSU's bench has outscored its opponent reserves by a 396-332 margin (23.3-19.5 ppg) through its first 17 games (10-of-17 games overall). Last season DSU reserves outscored its opponents' reserves in 22 of 30 games played (748-571/24.9 ppg-19.0 ppg).

BLAZING TRAILS:
* - Senior forward Hunter Schofield enjoyed arguably his finest game in his near two seasons in a Trailblazer uniform on Saturday night at UVU when he went off for a career-high 31 points ... Schofield connected on 11-of-16 from the floor, including 6-of-8 shooting en route to 12 of DSU's first 19 points to open the game, and pulled down a team-high seven rebounds in 27 minutes.
* - To cap his career night, Schofield scored his 700th-career point at DSU with a free throw with 30 seconds remaining.  
* - Schofield became just the eighth player in the program's NCAA era to score 30 or more points in a game, and the first since former Blazer Jack Pagenkopf did it last season in the RMAC Tourney semifinals vs. Colorado Mesa (3/6/20).
* - Schofield has scored in double figures in eight of his last 11 games, with a pair of 23-point nights (vs. GCU 1/22; at CBU 1/29) to go with his career night at UVU.
* -  Schofield is currently ranked third in DSU's NCAA era in career scoring average (14.9 ppg), seventh in career rebounding average (5.7 rpg) and eighth in career FG% (.521).
* - Junior guard Cameron Gooden has scored in double figures in 11 of his last 15 starts with three 20-plus point nights ... he has also led the team in scoring eight times, including in six of his last 12 outings.
* - After being held to nine points in G1 at UVU on Friday, Gooden came back with 14 points in last Saturday's win.  
* - Gooden posted game-highs of 22 points (3-of-5 3FG) and six assists (career-high) in the win at California Baptist (1/30) ... Gooden scored 13 of his 22 points in the second half to help rally DSU to the win, and wound up averaging 19.5 ppg in the two games at CBU (17 pts in G1, 1/29).
* - The junior point guard also made a little history in game one at CBU (1/29) as he became just the 10th-different player in the program's NCAA era to record at least five steals in a game ... Gooden collected five steals in G1, and for good measure, picked off four more steals in the game two win.
*- Gooden (32 steals this season) has picked off at least one steal in 11-straight starts and in 14 of 17 games overall ... Gooden, who also had four steals in the win at UVU last Saturday, is averaging 2.5 spg game over his current streak.
* - Sophomore forward Frank Staine tied a season-high with 19 points in the win at UVU last Saturday ... Staine hit a pair of first-half 3-pointers, and went an impressive 11-of-11 at the foul line, both career highs in FTM and FTA.
* - Staine has scored in double figures in nine of his first 16 starts this season, highlighted by a game-high 19 points in the season-opening home win vs. North Dakota (12/2).
* - Staine scored his 400th career point on a leaner in the paint with exactly 5:00 minutes to play in the second half in G1 vs Seattle U (2/5).
* - Despite missing both games at UVU last week due to injury, senior forward Jarod Greene continues to lead all DSU active players, and is eighth in the WAC, in FG% at 54.1 (46-of-85).
* - Greene poured in a season-high 16 points on 5-of-8 shooting and a perfect 6-of-6 at the foul line in G1 vs. Seattle U (2/5).  
* - Greene's 16 points were one off of his career high of 17 points scored last season vs. Colorado Christian (1/17/20) ... he also tied a career-high with two blocked shots for good measure in SU win.
* - Sophomore reserve guard Brock Gilbert was handing out dimes last weekend as he averaged 7.5 assists in the two games at UVU ... Gilbert recorded seven assists (with no turnovers) in 13 minutes in Friday's loss, then followed that up with eight more dimes in his first start of the year in Saturday's win.
* - Gilbert's eight dimes were one off of his career-high of nine set on the road at No. 1 Gonzaga (12/29).
* - As a team, Dixie State averaged 21.5 assists at UVU, marking just the third and fourth times this season that the Blazers recorded 20-plus assists in a game ... it was also just the first and second occasions against a D-I opponent (25 vs. Bethesda, 12/19; 22 vs. Saint Katherine, 12/5).
* - Dixie State posted season highs in FTM (28), FTA (31) and FT% (.903) in the win over Seattle U (2/5) ... prior to that outing, the last time DSU shot at least 90 percent at the foul line came nearly a year-to-the-day ON THE ROAD in a 90-82 win at Western Colorado (27-of-30, .900; 2/7/20).  
* - DSU followed that up by going 26-of-29 (.897) at the stripe in the win at UVU last Saturday, including making its first 20 attempts on the night ... The Blazers are a combined 81-of-96 (.843) from the foul line over their last four games, which helped increase its season FT% by 55 percentage points to 69.7 percent (6th in the WAC).
* - Since the 2016-17, Dixie State has shot 50 percent or better in just 45 of its last 127 games overall, and has only shot better than 50 percent twice this 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 UVU on Saturday, which helped offset a 37.7 percent effort (26-of-69) in Friday's loss.
* - Dating back to the 2016-17 season, Dixie State has had 68 of its last 130 games decided by nine points or less, including nine of 15 games against D-I opponents this season.
* - DSU's 38-point margin of victory vs. Saint Katherine (12/5) was the fifth-largest in the program's NCAA era.
* - On the flip side, DSU was held to just 46 points at home vs. Grand Canyon (1/23) ... the 46 points tied for the second-fewest points in a game in the program's four-year era (L, 46-66 at Chaminade; 1/4/08), and marked the second time this season that DSU failed to score at least 50 points (49-82 at UTRGV, 1/15/21).
* - In addition, the Blazers' 35-point loss to GCU (1/23) was Dixie State's worst home loss in the program's NCAA era.
* - Uncharacteristically, Dixie State has lost the "Battle of the Boards" in 10 of its first 17 games this season, though the Blazers did outrebound Seattle U in both games home game two weeks ago (47-44 in G1, 42-38 in G2) ... overall, the Blazers have outrebounded an opponent in 73 of its last 101 games dating 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 TARLETON STATE "TEXANS": Tarleton State comes to St. George on a little bit of a roll, having won three-straight and four of its last five overall, which includes a road split at UVU back on Jan. 29-30.
    Billy Gillispie (6-8 overall at TSU; Texas State, 1983) is in his first season as head coach at Tarleton, this after a five-year stint as head coach at Ranger (TX) Junior College. Gillispie, who is 154-115 as a Division-I head coach, has served as head coach at four other notable D-I programs, including stops at UTEP (2002-04), Texas A&M (2004-07), Kentucky (2007-09) and Texas Tech (2011-12), and has led his teams to four combined NCAA Tournament appearances in 10-plus seasons overall.  
    The Texans boast four players scoring in double figures, led by junior guard Montre Gipson (5-11) at 14.8 ppg on 54.1 percent shooting (.541 3FG, 20-of-37). Meanwhile, junior guard Tahj Small (6-5) leads the club in rebounding at 6.7 rpg, to go with his 10.9 ppg average.
    As a team, Tarleton averages 78.1 ppg on 47.8 percent shooting through 14 games while allowing 73.4 ppg vs. D-I opponents (63.2 ppg overall). TSU also averages 6.1 3FGM and 32.9 rpg a contest.

UP NEXT: Due to Chicago State discontinuing its 2020-21 season, the Trailblazers will enjoy a weekend off from competition (Feb. 26-27). Dixie State is slated to wrap up its D-I debut season at home against defending WAC champion New Mexico State on March 5-6. Tip-off each night inside the Burns Arena is slated for 7 p.m. (MT).