ST. GEORGE, Utah-Friday and Saturday, Dixie State men’s basketball (4-5, 0-2 in WAC play) ensues in its play on the season by hosting Grand Canyon (8-3, 2-0 in WAC play) as the conference season continues for the Trailblazers and Antelopes.
Dixie State head coach Jon Judkins remains nine wins behind former University of Utah women’s basketball head coach Elaine Elliott (582-234) for the most wins in Utah college basketball history.
Judkins has won 573 games at Snow College and Dixie State University.
Dixie State scores 71.7 points per game, tying the Trailblazers for 189th nationally in scoring offense with Mississippi State and UC Riverside.
Defensively, the Trailblazers surrender 75.9 points per game, ranking Dixie State 282nd nationally in scoring defense.
Junior guard Cameron Gooden (12.7 points per game) is Dixie State’s leader in scoring and assists (33)
Other Trailblazers to score in double figures on-average include junior forward Jacob Nicolds (10.9 points per game, a team-best 6.1 rebounds per contest) and sophomore guard/forward Frank Staine (10.8 points per game, a team-best 23 steals).
Staine is also tied for the team lead in blocked shots (4) with senior guard Dason Youngblood.
Grand Canyon scores 80.9 points per game. This ranks the Antelopes 35th nationally in scoring offense.
Defensively, Grand Canyon surrenders 62.2 points per game. This ranks the Antelopes 27th nationally in scoring defense.
The Antelopes’ statistical leader is Danish national, senior center Asbjorn Midtgaard. The 7-footer out of Helsingor, Denmark leads Grand Canyon in scoring (14.9 points per game), rebounding (9.8 boards per contest) and blocked shots (15).
Italian senior center Alessandro Lever (13 points per game) and sophomore guard Javon Blacksher Jr. (11.7 points per game, team bests in assists [63] and steals [16]) also score in double figures on-average for the Antelopes.
The Antelopes are coached by Bryce Drew, who is 8-3 (.727) in his first season at Grand Canyon. Drew is 172-111 (.608) as a Division I head coach. He has also coached at Valparaiso (2011-2016) and Vanderbilt (2016-2019).
The Trailblazers are 12-4 all-time against Grand Canyon.
