SALT LAKE CITY-Dixie State men’s basketball (3-0), currently ranked No. 22 in the NCAA Division II Sports Information Directors Association poll, visits Salt Lake City to play Lake Superior State (1-2) Friday and Alaska-Fairbanks (1-3) Saturday at Westminster College.
Each of these games are 5:30 pm tip-0ffs at Behnken Field House.
The Trailblazers are also just a few votes short of the Top 25 in the NCAA Division II NABC Coaches poll this week.
After the strong start to the season, Dixie State head coach Jon Judkins, in his 15th season at the helm, is 265-126 (.677) as the Trailblazers’ head coach. He is 245-114 (.682) in the program’s era as a Division II program.
Overall, he is 549-254 (.684) as a collegiate head coach, which also includes time at Snow College (1992-2005).
The Trailblazers score 82 points per game on the season, ranking them 93rd nationally in scoring offense.
Junior forward-center Hunter Schofield (20 points, 8.3 rebounds per game) remains Dixie State’s statistical leader thus far. Schofield also shoots a team-best 56.1 percent from the field and leads the squad in blocked shots (2).
Freshman forward Frank Staine (13.7 points, 3.7 rebounds per game) and sophomore forward Josh Newbold (11.7 points, 3.3 rebounds per game) bolster Dixie State’s strong front-court.
Senior guard Jack Pagenkopf (11.3 points, 10.3 rebounds per game, has team leads in rebounds (31) assists (26) and steals (5) is perhaps the Trailblazers’ best overall all-around player.
The Trailblazers are tied for 177th nationally in scoring defense (76 points per game) with Rogers State, Saginaw Valley, Pittsburgh-Johnstown, Queens (N.Y.) and Azusa Pacific.
Lake Superior State is coached by Steve Hettinga who is 218-132 (.623) in his 13th season at the helm of the Lakers’ program. Hettinga is also the all-time winningest head coach in program history.
Lake Superior State ranks 202nd nationally in scoring offense by posting 73.7 points per contest.
Senior forward Ke’Montrece Collins (13.7 points, 5.3 rebounds per game) is the Lakers’ statistical leader on the season. Sophomore guard Justin Fischer (13.7 points, a team-best 2.7 assists and field goal percentage [58.3 percent]) has also been solid for Lake Superior State.
Sophomore guard C.J. Robinson (13 points, a team-best 1.3 steals per game) is a complementary figure on the squad to Collins and Fischer.
Defensively, the Lakers are tied for 105th nationally in scoring defense (71 points per game) with Southern Arkansas, Minnesota State, Southwest Minnesota State and Virginia State.
Sophomore forward Ashton Sherrell leads the Lakers with 1.7 blocks per game.
Friday’s game between Dixie State and Lake Superior State is the first meeting in these respective schools’ histories.
Alaska-Fairbanks is coached by Greg Sparling who is 6-25 (.194) in his second season coaching the Nanooks.
Alaska-Fairbanks scores 70.3 points per game, ranking them 243rd nationally in scoring offense.
Junior guard Shadeed Shabazz (17.8 points, 4.8 rebounds per game, a team-best nine steals) leads the Nanooks.
Junior guard Spencer Sweet (12.5 points, 3 rebounds per game) also scores in double figures for the Nanooks.
Junior guard Jaqua Morrow has a team-best 11 assists and junior forward Michael Kluting (9 rebounds per game) is the Nanooks’ leader in rebounds. Sweet and Kluting have two blocks apiece to lead the squad in that category.
Alaska-Fairbanks is tied for 270th nationally in scoring defense (86.8 points per game) with Concord.
The Trailblazers and Nanooks have met one previous time with Dixie State prevailing in that game, 71-58 on November 27, 2015 at Billings, Mont.
