GAME #10
Academy of Art (3-6, 1-2 PacWest) at Dixie State (6-4, 3-1 PacWest) at
Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2014 – 1:30 p.m. PST
St. George, Utah – Burns Arena
LIVE VIDEO | LIVE AUDIO | LIVE STATS
 
GAME #11
Dominican (Calif.) (5-7, 2-2 PacWest) at Academy of Art (3-6, 1-2 PacWest)
Saturday, Jan. 3, 2015 – 3 p.m.
San Francisco – Kezar Pavilion
LIVE VIDEO/STATS | LIVE AUDIO
 
SAN FRANCISCO — Winter break comes to a quick end this week for the Academy of Art University men's basketball team, as the Urban Knights hit the road for a New Year's Eve date in Utah at Dixie State before returning home to open 2015 Saturday versus Dominican University of California. 
The Pacific West Conference season rolls on for ART U (3-6, 1-2 PacWest) when it faces both Dixie State and Dominican for the first time this season. Wednesday's game at the Red Storm (6-4, 3-1 PacWest) tips off at 1:30 p.m. PST. Saturday's game versus the North Bay rival Penguins (5-7, 2-2 PacWest) starts at 3 p.m. at Kezar Pavilion.
 
The Knights dropped back-to-back games on Dec. 16 and 20 to nationally ranked conference opponents California Baptist (76-74 in overtime) and Azusa Pacific (100-75). Their schedule gets no easier this week with two teams that participated in the PacWest Championship Tournament a season ago and Dixie State also coming off an NCAA Tournament appearance with a 21-7 record in 2013-14.
 
ABOUT DIXIE STATE
The Red Storm (6-4, 3-1 PacWest) holds a third place tie in the PacWest standings with Hawaii Pacific at 3-1 in conference play. DSU's only PacWest loss came at the hands of co-leader California Baptist on Dec. 6. Dixie State is 0-3 this season against shared opponents with ART U, falling to Western Oregon, CBU and Seattle Pacific.
 
The Red Storm has four players averaging in double figure scoring led by Zach Robbins' 15.0 points per game. DeQuan Thompson (13.6), Mason Sawyer (12.2) and Mark Ogden (10.6) are the other scorers for DSU. Robbins is almost averaging a double-double through 10 games this season with 9.4 rebounds per contest and is the top shot blocker in the conference at 2.1 blocks per game. Dixie State has, on average, outscored (72.1-66.3), outrebounded (39.2-33.4) and outshot (46.1-41.7 percent) its opponents so far.
 
All-time Series: Dixie State leads 10-0
Last Meeting: Feb. 22, 2014, Dixie State won 82-80 in San Francisco.
 
ABOUT DOMINICAN
The Penguins (5-7, 2-2 PacWest) have lost three straight after dropping three-point and five-point decisions to then-No. 22 Azusa Pacific and No. 16 California Baptist, respectively, then losing by nine, 60-51, in a non-conference matchup versus Northwest Nazarene.
 
Dominique Taplin leads Dominican with 14.9 ppg and 7.2 rpg. He's also second on the team in assists (2.7 apg) and steals (11). Mathew Lipski appears in the PacWest's top-10 for blocked shots with 11. The Penguins are the third-best shooting team in the conference at 49.8 percent but also have the worst turnover margin in the PacWest at -4.5.
 
All-time Series: Dominican leads 10-0
Last Meeting: Feb. 24, 2014, Dominican won 83-69 in San Rafael, Calif.
 
TRIO OF THEIVERY ARTISTS
Three Academy of Art players have mastered the art of the steal this season, as freshman guard Jase Harrison (4th, 1.9 steals per game), senior guard Alexis Moore (t-5th, 1.8 spg) and sophomore guard Herman Pratt IV (t-5th, 1.8 spg) all rank among the PacWest's top-10 for steals. The Urban Knights lead the PacWest team rankings with 9.0 spg.
 
MULTI-FACETED
Moore has been a catalyst for the Urban Knights this season, carrying a heavy load while running the point and leading the team in scoring (16.1 ppg), rebounding (6.6 rpg) and assists (4.9 apg). For his efforts, the senior is one of only five PacWest players ranked among the conference's top-10 in both scoring (5th) and rebounding (10th). On top of that, Moore is the only PacWest player ranked in the top-10 in scoring, rebounding and assists (3rd).
 
ROAD BLOCKS
Junior center Trent Stokes is the second-best shot blocker in the PacWest at 1.8 blocks per game, and he will meet his top competitor Wednesday at Dixie State in Robbins, who leads the conference with 2.1 bpg. Stokes has done his best blocking on the road, averaging 2.0 blocks in three road games this season.