SALT LAKE CITY-Friday, Dixie State men’s basketball commences its season at the D2 Conference Challenge hosted by Westminster University of Salt Lake City.

The Trailblazers will face the Texas A&M-Commerce Lions followed by a Saturday game against the Texas-Tyler Patriots.

Each of these games are 5:30 pm MST tip-offs.

At the helm of the Trailblazers’ program for the 15th consecutive season is Jon Judkins, who is 262-126 (.675) as the coach at Dixie State. He is 242-114 (.679) in the program’s NCAA Division II era as they make preparations for Division I next season.

When one adds his tenure at Snow College to the mix, Judkins is 546-253 (.683) as he coaches his 800th all-time game Friday against the Lions.

With his 546 wins, Judkins trails only legendary University of Utah women’s basketball coach Elaine Elliott (1984-2011), who had 582 career wins while coaching the Utes, going 582-234 (.713).

Dixie State’s leading returning scorer is senior guard Jack Pagenkopf (8.2 points per game last season).

The Trailblazers are currently on a 13-game regular season winning streak, dating back to the 2018-19 season.

In Dixie State’s 13 seasons as an NCAA Division II institution, the Trailblazers are 71-66 (.518) against non-conference foes all-time. Dixie State has been a member of both the Pacific West Conference and the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference at the Division II level.

Senior guard Deontra Terrell is the Lions’ returning leading scorer. He scored 9.8 points, while netting 2.8 rebounds last season, for Texas A&M-Commerce.

When Dixie State plays Texas-Tyler Saturday, this will be the Patriots’ fourth game against a Beehive State opponent, having fallen to BYU and Utah in exhibitions. They will also have played Westminster Friday.

Sophomore point guard Darius Alford is the Patriots’ leading returning scorer. He netted 18.6 points and 4.04 rebounds for Texas-Tyler per game last season.