2021-22 Dixie State Trailblazers Men's Basketball (7-8 / 0-2 WAC)
Game No. 16
at Utah Valley (10-4 / 1-1 WAC)
Saturday, January 8 / 2 p.m.
UCCU Center (7,500); Orem, Utah
 

Game Notes: DIXIE STATE - PDF | UVU
Live TV: ESPN+
Live Video: ESPN+
Live Audio: ESPN RADIO 97.7 FM
Live Stats: at UTAH VALLEY
Twitter: @DixieAthletics | @DIXIESTATEBBALL | #DixieBlazers | #WeAreONE | #WACmbb | #WAChoops

OPENING TIP: Dixie State (7-8/0-2 WAC) embarks on a stretch that will see the Trailblazers play six of their next eight WAC games on the road, starting with an "Old Hammer Rivalry" showdown at in-state foe Utah Valley (10-4/1-1 WAC) this Saturday, Jan. 8. Tip-off inside UVU's UCCU Center in Orem is scheduled for 2 p.m.

DIXIE STATE VS. UTAH VALLEY: This weekend's tilt at Utah Valley will be the third NCAA game between the two former junior college rivals on the basketball court. Last season, the two sides split a pair of games played in Orem, with UVU claiming game one, 87-72 (2/12/21), while DSU evened the series with a 93-89 triumph the next night (2/13/21).
    Both programs first played each other in 1972-73, and met annually in Scenic West Athletic Conference/NJCAA Region 18 until the 2002-03, which was UVU's last season of JUCO play before the program began its transition to NCAA Division-I status (2003-04 season).

STOP, HAMMER TIME: Last season, Dixie State and UVU jointly announced an official name for the renewed in-state rivalry. "The Old Hammer Rivalry" will continue the tradition that had been formed during their junior college days.
    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.
    Last spring UVU laid claim to the "Old Hammer" after posting a combined 7-6 record spanning five sports, and the Wolverines own a 5-0 lead vs. DSU through the fall sports 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 dropped its third straight and remained winless in WAC play as the Trailblazers fell to Abilene Christian, 64-50, on New Year's Night inside the Burns Arena.
    The Blazers were done in by cold shooting and a season-high 27 turnovers, that coupled with ACU opening the game with a 16-2 run. DSU trailed 31-17 at the half, but began the second half with a 10-4 spurt to pull to within eight at 35-27 at the 13:52 mark.
    That would be as close as the Blazers would get as Dixie State turned the ball over seven times over its next nine possessions. Meanwhile Abilene Christian took full advantage, scoring nine-unanswered points to extend to its biggest lead of the night at 44-27 with 10:23 remaining. The Wildcats maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the way to coast home with their 11th-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 back on Dec. 15.
    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).
    Judkins now owns a 584-282 (.674) 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 (440-201).

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 in DSU's 78-69 victory at North Dakota (12/18).
    Coach Judkins is 300-154 (.661) in 16-plus years at Dixie State, including a 280-142 (.663) 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 146-39 (.789) overall record inside the Burns Arena under Head Coach Jon Judkins. Despite the loss to ACU last Saturday, and bolstered by a 5-1 homestand last month, the Blazers are 6-3 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 fell to 1-5 (1-4 in true road games) away from home this season following the loss at Southern Utah on Dec. 22.
    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 135-104 (.566) in 239 games away from home in its NCAA era under Coach Judkins, which includes a 107-82 record (.566) 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.

FROM WAY DOWNTOWN....BANG: After draining a combined 55 3-pointers over a four-game stretch prior leading into its non-conference finale at SUU (12/22), Dixie State has hit just 14 combined treys over its last three games overall. DSU was held to 4-of-24 (.167) at SUU, but managed to double that number by going 8-of-23 (.347) from beyond the arc in the loss to Tarleton on Dec. 30.
    The Trailblazers then struggled from beyond the arc vs. Abilene Christian last Saturday, finishing with a season low two trifectas (2-of-11; .111).
     DSU closed out its six-game homestand with at least 10 made 3-pointers in three-straight games, this after only doing it just 21 times the previous 417 NCAA era games overall. The Blazers 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 (12/15), 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 125-straight games. In addition, DSU has hit at least one three pointer in 326 of its last 328 games overall, and in 420 of the program's 424 NCAA-era games, which began in the 2006-07 season, with 24 total games of at least 10 3FGM.

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 six-game homestand (11/27-12/18).
    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.

GOODEN-PLENTY: Junior guard Cameron Gooden earned Dixie State's first WAC award this season when he was named WAC 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 poured in a game-high 15 points to go with a game and career-high tying eight rebounds in the Tarleton loss (12/30), saw his seven-game streak of scoring 10 or more points halted after he was held to four points last Saturday vs. ACU.
    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 with 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 DSU's home 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 12 of his 15 starts this season, and in 26 of 35 games as a Trailblazer. He has led or co-led the team in scoring 17 times overall.

GOING BACK ON THE HUNT: While death and taxes headline the few guarantees in life, there is another guarantee that the Trailblazers can count on - a major Hunter Schofield bounce back.
    The senior forward struggled in his start at SUU (12/22), against which he was held to a career-low two points on 1-of-7 shooting. He did however block a season-high two shots and collected four rebounds and two assists in 21 minutes.
    True to form, Schofield did bounce back in the Tarleton loss (12/30) with 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting, including scoring DSU's first seven points on the night, and had 10 points in the first half overall. He followed that up with 10 points and a team-high eight boards last Saturday vs. ACU.
    Prior to the SUU loss, Schofield's previous career-low was five points, which he recorded twice, the last time coming in the season opener at Gonzaga (11/9). All he did after that game was score in double figures in nine of his next 10 starts (15.2 ppg), including a season-high 29 points in the Southern Utah home win (11/12).
    Schofield was also held to five points last season in a home loss vs. Grand Canyon (1/23), and he responded with 10 or more points in six of his next seven outings. Schofield poured in 20-plus points three times during that stretch, highlighted by a career-high 31 points in a road win at Utah Valley (2/13).

MORE ON "SCORE"FIELD: 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 vaulted him up the career charts as he is currently third in career scoring average (14.5 ppg), fourth in FGM (374), sixth in rebounds (384) and rebounding average (5.8 rpg), and eighth in points (960 pts) and in FG% (.517). He also moved into t-eighth in career starts (57) and ninth in career blocks (34).

BLAZING TRAILS:
* - Sophomore forward Frank Staine poured in 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 Los Angeles hometown area.
* - Staine saw his streak of scoring in double figures stopped at five-straight starts after he tallied nine points at North Dakota (12/18), though he did hit for 10 points in the Tarleton loss (12/30) ... Staine has scored 10 or more points in seven of his last 11 outings overall, including 15 points on 5-of-5 from 3-point country vs. SAGU-AIC (12/15).
* - 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, where he currently stands in sixth place (.392) ... Staine's 89 3FGM in 65 career games are also good for t-seventh on DSU's career list, while his 227 3FGA ranks him sixth in the program's NCAA era.
* - 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.
* - Freshman forward Trevon Allfrey just missed his third (and fifth career) double-digit scoring game this season after he finished with nine points on 4-of-7 shooting at SUU (12/22) ... Allfrey also collected three rebounds and blocked a shot in 10 minutes off the bench.
* - Allfrey recorded his first collegiate double-double with 15 points and a career-high 10 rebounds in the game one win vs. Bethesda (11/30) ... Allfrey 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. Saint Katherine (8 vs. SUU - 11/12).
* - Gilbert tallied a WAC career high six points on 2-of-4 from the perimeter vs. ACU last Saturday ... in fact, both of Gilbert's made threes allowed DSU's current streak of 125-straight games with a made 3-pointer to continue.   
* - Junior forward Dancell Leter posted his third-straight double digit game with a team-high 15 points vs. ACU last Saturday ... Leter also recorded consecutive 13-point nights at SUU (12/22) and vs. Tarleton (12/30).
* - Leter has scored 10 or more points in five of his last seven starts, and seven times overall this season, highlighted by a career-high 17 points vs. Weber State (11/27).
* - Freshman guard Noa Gonsalves earned his first collegiate start in the ACU loss last Saturday, thanks in part to 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting in a career-high 27 minutes of action off the bench in the Tarleton loss (12/30).
* - Gonsalves' 11 points were one off of his career high of 12 set in the road win at North Dakota (12/18), against which he went 5-of-7 from the floor with a pair of 3-pointers, on his way to WAC Freshman of the Week (12/20) honors.
* - Freshman guard Andre Mulibea picked off a career-high three steals in the road loss at SUU (12/22) ... in fact, DSU racked up 10 steals off of 19 SUU turnovers, marking the fourth time this season that the Blazer defense collected 10 or more steals.
* - Mulibea was one of five Blazers to score in double figures with 11 points vs. Saint Katherine (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 (12/15).
* - After throwing down just three total dunks in 21 games last season, the Trailblazers already have 10 dunks through the first 15 games this year - all of which have come over the last 11 games, including three flushes vs. Saint Katherine (12/4) ... Leter is the current team leader in dunks with five, including a break-away jam at SUU (12/22), and another flush vs. Tarleton (12/30).
* - DSU's bench combined to outscore the SAGU-AIC reserves by a whopping 64-18 margin (12/15) ... 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 15 games, DSU's bench has outscored its opponent reserves by a 455-341 margin (30.3 ppg-22.7 ppg), and in 10 of 15 games (with one tie) 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 146 games overall, though the Blazers have shot better than 50 percent four times through 15 games this season.
* - DSU shot a season-high 57.6 percent (34-of-59) vs. Saint Katherine (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 149 games decided by nine points or less, including 12 of 36 games to this point of the program's Division I 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 cleared 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 nine of 15 games this season (6-3) ... overall, the Blazers have outrebounded an opponent in 84 of its last 122 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 UTAH VALLEY "WOLVERINES": Utah Valley (10-4/1-1 WAC) enters Saturday's game having won three of its last four, which includes a big 68-52 win at PAC-12 member Washington (12/21), and a home WAC split against Abilene Christian (L, 76-80; 12/30) and Tarleton State (W, 77-55; 1/1) last week.
    UVU has played to a 5-1 record at home to this point of the season, highlighted by a 72-65 overtime win over crosstown rival and then-No. 12 BYU back on Dec. 1.
    Mark Madsen (32-34 overall; Stanford, 2000), who is in his third season as head coach at UVU, joined the Wolverine program prior to the 2019-20 season after a six-year stint as an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers.  
    Four Wolverines average double figures, led by reigning WAC Player and Defensive Player of the Year Fardaw Aimaq (6-11). The sophomore center is currently the NCAA D-I leader in double-doubles (12) and is ranked in the top-30 overall nationally in scoring (t-27th - 19.6 ppg), rebounding (2nd - 13.6 rpg) and total rebounds (2nd - 190).
    As a team, Utah Valley averages 75.7 ppg on 46.6 percent shooting through 14 games while allowing 64.5 ppg. UVU also averages 7.1 3FGM, 41.6 rpg, and a WAC-best 4.86 blocked shots per game.

UP NEXT: Dixie State continues its road swing next Wednesday, Jan. 12, when the Blazers head to Riverside for a road date at California Baptist. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. (PT), at the CBU Events Center.