ST. GEORGE, Utah-Friday, No. 23 (and No. 1 RMAC Tournament seed) Dixie State hosts Colorado Mesa as the Trailblazers seek to advance to the RMAC Tournament conference championship game Saturday by facing the Mavericks in the conference semifinals for a 7:00 pm tip-off at Burns Arena.
In the other semifinal at Burns Arena, No. 3 Colorado School of Mines faces No. 7 South Dakota Mines at 5:00 pm.
Tuesday evening, Dixie State made program history by winning their first all-time RMAC Tournament game by downing Regis 84-71 in the conference quarterfinals at Burns Arena.
In his 15th season on the bench at Dixie State, head coach Jon Judkins (285-132, .683 at Dixie State; 569-260, .686 as a collegiate head coach) is only 13 wins away from tying legendary University of Utah women’s head basketball coach Elaine Elliott [582-234, .713] for the most wins in Utah college basketball history.
Presently, Dixie State scores 81.4 points per game, ranking the Trailblazers 59th nationally in scoring offense.
Junior forward/center Hunter Schofield continues to lead Dixie State in scoring (16.6 points per game), rebounding (6.2 boards per game) and blocked shots (18).
Senior guard Jack Pagenkopf leads Dixie State in assists (173) and steals (59).
Junior guard Dason Youngblood (10.2 points per game) also scores in double figures on-average for the Trailblazers.
Dixie State surrenders 72.8 points per game as the Trailblazers rank 103rd nationally in scoring defense.
Colorado Mesa is coached by second-year head coach Mike DeGeorge (38-20, .655).
The Mavericks score 81.4 points per game, tying the Trailblazers for 59th nationally.
Senior guard Tommy Nuno leads the Mavericks in scoring (14.8 points per game) and assists (128) while also posting 5.7 rebounds per game.
Senior guard Michael Skinner (11.5 points per game, team-bests in rebounds [6.2 per game] and steals [55]) and junior guard Jared Small (11.6 points per game a team-best 29 blocked shots) also lead Colorado Mesa statistically.
Junior center Ethan Richardson (12.4 points per game) and junior guard Georgie Dancer (11.8 points per game) also score in double figures, on-average for the Mavericks.
Colorado Mesa surrenders 74.7 points per game, tying the Mavericks for 146th nationally in scoring defense with Regis.
The Trailblazers lead the Mavericks 8-4 all-time.
