Photo by: Andrew Fielding
Despite a sluggish start in out-of-conference play, the DU men’s basketball team has discovered a resurgence over the past couple of weeks as the club entered Sun Belt Conference play with a conference best 4-0 record.
After a 2-9 start, the Pioneers recovered to win six in a row, including their final two non-conference games and their first four SBC contests.
The biggest wins came last weekend when the Pioneers (8-9) completed their first road sweep since 2003, knocking off conference rivals Western Kentucky and Louisiana Monroe away from Magness Arena.
Until this past weekend, the road wasn’t kind to Denver this season, or in the past. The wins last weekend against WKU and ULM were the team’s first two wins on the road this season, and the club has posted a 4-23 road record over the past two seasons, not including games at neutral sites.
“Winning on the road is all about mental toughness,” said head coach Joe Scott. “And I think this team is the best we’ve seen for that.”
Scott acknowledged last week that the team had been playing their best basketball of the season and winning on the road would have been a big step forward, however he insisted he didn’t want to put too much stress on a pair of games in early January.
“You never want to put too much stock into your third and fourth conference games,” said Scott last week. “It could be huge for us, but what’s most important is we continue on the path we are on and continue to improve.”
A big reason for DU’s road success was the big play of junior guard Brian Stafford, who finished with 39 points combined in the two games. Against the Warhawks on Saturday, he scored nine points in the final minute to help the Pioneers claim a 66-57 win and their sixth in a row.
“These were the two best games Brian Stafford has played this year, and it’s good to see him starting to play well,” said Scott.
The Pioneers also helped themselves by limiting their turnovers on the road, recording only seven in Thursday’s 62-59 win over Western Kentucky. It was the club’s third consecutive win over Western Kentucky.
Over the past half-month, Scott says he has seen consistency grow from a lineup tweak that has installed junior Andrew Hooper and sophomore Tyler Thalken into the starting lineup.
“We have a nice rotation going now. We just needed to make some adjustments, but now everyone’s roles are more defined and we have six to seven guys contributing a night.”
Scott noted that moving junior Justin Coughlin and freshmen Chris Udofia to the bench has helped each of their games improve.
In addition, the emergence of junior Travis Hallam as a scoring threat, to couple with fellow junior Brian Stafford and his sophomore brother Chase Hallam, has given the team three reliable starters.
“Travis has to remain consistent for us so that we have three positions we can count on,” said Scott.
Last season Travis played in all 32 games, but never started, averaging only 2.9 points per game. This season he has started in all but one game for the Pioneers and has developed into the team’s third leading scorer.
As the Pioneers scrap back from their ugly start, Scott says they need to embrace the fact that they aren’t on a lot of team’s radars, despite their unblemished conference record, and can sneak up in the final three months of the season to still capture their goal – a Sun Belt Conference championship.
“We are underdogs now,” said Scott. “We need to have that mentality going ahead.”
The Pioneers host Florida International on Saturday afternoon at 4:30 p.m in Magness Arena.
