Things are starting to look bad again for the University of Denver men’s basketball team after it lost its third straight conference game on the road.
The Pioneers started the season 5-1, followed by five straight losses all on the road. The road is looking rocky for a team that many thought would have one of its best seasons in program history.
After those five straight losses, DU turned things around and scored five straight wins, including one on Pack the House Night against Wyoming. The Pioneers notched their first road victory at Northern Colorado.
But it is the conference games that are on the minds of players and coaches.
“Anytime you have conference games they are always important, no matter where they are played at,” said Head Coach Terry Carroll.
The latest streak started last Monday at North Texas where DU had a 40-34 halftime lead before falling 72-70 to the Mean Green. Senior Yemi Nicholson had another great game with 28 points and 16 rebounds and junior transfer DaShawn Walker added 17 in the loss.
It looked like the road slump was finally going to be over against two mediocre teams in Arkansas State and Arkansas Little-Rock, but the outcomes proved otherwise.
“We need to take care of the ball more and not turn the ball over as often, that is the reason why we are losing these games,” said Nicholson.
He added, “We need to take more pride when we have the ball.”
Last Thursday night at Arkansas State the Pioneers never could get over the hump, as they trailed 35-32 at the half and eventually lost 72-61. Nicholson even struggled, as he scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Sophomore Steve Wetrich and junior Antonio Porch each chipped in 11 points.
Things were more of the same Saturday night in Little Rock, as Denver was competitive the whole game, but never took the lead and lost its third straight game 62-52. Wetrich, Porch and Nicholson all had 12 points and senior Andrew Carpenter had eight.
The Pioneers are now 10-9 and 3-3 in the Sun Belt Conference and 6-0 at home. They are 1-8 on the road and 3-1 in neutral site games.
“Our problem has been consistency with turnovers and rebounding,” said Carroll. “If we can get those two things in line, that is when we win games, it is not as much of a case as what the other team is doing as much as it is what we are doing.”
Denver will look to continue its winning ways at home this Thursday when the Pioneers host South Alabama (13-4, 4-1) at 7 p.m. followed by a match up with Troy State (10-7, 3-2) on Saturday, also at 7 p.m.
Nicholson is averaging 19.1 points per game and 11.1 rebounds per game and Walker is averaging 12.8 points per game.
“It is definitely a season that I thought I was going to have, but the teammates are really helping me out and it is all about the team,” said Nicholson.
It has been tough to watch Denver on the road, but the team and coaches are looking to regroup at home with important conference games.
In small conferences like the SBC, it is all about the conference tournament when trying to get into the NCAA tournament. And that is when the Pioneers will need to be on their “A” game.
