ST. GEORGE, Utah-Friday and Saturday, Dixie State men’s basketball (12-3, 7-2 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play) hosts Colorado Christian (1-14, 1-8 in RMAC play) and Regis (9-6, 4-5 in RMAC play) at Burns Arena as the conference season ensues for the Trailblazers.
The Trailblazers are coached by Jon Judkins (274-129, .679 at Dixie State; 558-257, .615 as a college basketball coach) who is in his 15th season at the helm of the Dixie State program.
Judkins only trails former University of Utah women’s basketball coach Elaine Elliott (1983-2008) by 25 wins for the all-time Utah college basketball coaching wins record. Elliott was 582-234 (.713) during her time with the Utes.
Dixie State scores 81.5 points per game, ranking the Trailblazers 74th nationally in scoring offense.
Junior forward/center Hunter Schofield leads Dixie State in scoring (17 points per game), rebounding (7.1 boards per game) and blocked shots (12).
Senior guard Jack Pagenkopf (13.2 points, 6.3 rebounds per game; team-bests in assists [87] and steals [33]) and junior guard Dason Youngblood (10.9 points, 4.3 rebounds per game) also score in double figures on-average for the Trailblazers.
Dixie State surrenders 73.6 points per game, ranking the Trailblazers 138th nationally in scoring defense.
Colorado Christian is coached by third-year head coach Jeff Hironaka who is 11-60 (.155) as the Cougars head coach.
Colorado Christian scores 72 points per game, ranking the Cougars 231st nationally in scoring offense.
Senior point guard Jake Hornick leads the Cougars in scoring (13.5 points per game), assists (57), steals (18) and blocked shots (7).
His teammates to also score in double figures on-average on season for Colorado Christian include junior guard/forward Justin Engesser (12.4 points per game, a team-best 6.1 rebounds per game), sophomore center Spencer Hoffman (12.1 points per game) and junior guard Elijah Oliver (11.2 points per game).
The Cougars surrender 83.1 points per game, tying them for 270th nationally in scoring defense with West Virginia Wesleyan.
Dixie State leads Colorado Christian 3-0 all-time.
Regis is coached by Brady Bergeson who is 85-50 (.629) in his fifth season at the helm of the Rangers’ program.
Regis scores 74.5 points per game as the Rangers rank 188th nationally in scoring offense.
Senior guard Christian Little (15.5 points, 5.6 rebounds per game, a team-best 28 steals), sophomore forward, Swiss national Toni Rocak (14 points, a team-best 6 rebounds per game), and junior guard Brian Dawson (11.9 points per game) all score in double-figures on average for Regis.
Australian national, freshman guard/forward Will Cranston-Lown has a team-best 38 assists and Italian national, Roberto Vercellino leads the Rangers with 11 blocked shots.
The Trailblazers lead the Rangers 2-0 all-time.
