With a weekend road sweep of Idaho and Seattle, the DU men’s basketball team has clawed its way back to a 9-7 overall record, with a 5-1 record in Western Athletic Conference play. The team started 1-5 against stiff non-conference competition but is now third in the WAC, just one game out of first place.

Against Idaho on Thursday, the Pioneers overcame a slow shooting night to capture their fourth win in a row. DU shot just 43.2 percent from the field, including 27.8 percent in three point shooting. However, paced by senior guard Chase Hallam’s 14 points, the Pioneers were able to capture a tough road win.

“To win on the road, you have to be okay with the game not flowing and not going your way all the time,” said head coach Joe Scott. “I thought we did a good job of keeping our composure. We grabbed the lead to start the second half, then we responded when Idaho got the lead back. Chase made big plays, and we made big foul shots.”

Despite hitting just five threes against Idaho, the Pioneers came out shooting against Seattle on Saturday. DU sunk 12 threes, including five from Hallam, who led the team in scoring, finishing with a game-high 17 points. The hot shooting helped Denver out to an early lead that they refused to relinquish.

“Our guys were ready and jumped out to an early lead,” said Scott. “We knew Seattle was going to come out in the second half and play a physical game to try to make a run. Our guys met the challenge, and our defense in the second half was terrific. We got contributions from a lot of guys.”

Hallam, after averaging 15.5 points and four rebounds last week, was named the WAC Player of the Week by College Sports Madness on Monday.

After dropping four straight games, and five of their first six overall, the Pioneers were not the picture of momentum halfway through their non-conference schedule. However, with a 69-40 beatdown of Mercer on Dec. 5, the Pioneers got back on track.

Just as they have all year, forwards Chris Udofia, junior, and Royce O’Neal, sophomore who scored 14 and 22 points, respectively, led DU to its second win of the season. The 22 points was a career high for O’Neal, who averages a team-high 12.8 points per game and captured the WAC Player of the Week award for the week of Dec. 10.

“We knew we were playing tough teams, so we had to step up our play,” said Udofia. “We learned a lot from [a challenging early schedule].”

The win sparked an 8-2 run, with the only losses coming against 14-1 Wyoming and WAC leader Louisiana Tech, who has yet to lose a game in conference play. After a Saturday win over 4-14 Seattle University, DU sits just below Louisiana Tech and Utah State with its 5-1 WAC record.

Despite their early season losses, the Pioneers have been reluctant to make large-scale changes, a strategy that has paid off with the onset of WAC play, according to Udofia.

“We fixed up the offense a little bit; we didn’t make too many crazy changes,” said Udofia. “From there, we were able to build.”

And build they have, with seven of their last eight wins coming by at least 11 points, while going undefeated at Magness Arena during that span. On the season, the Pioneers hold a +6.8-scoring margin over their opponents.

While the team’s recent success may not be a surprise to those who watched the Pioneers go 22-9 last season, the youth of the team may surprise some. DU has just one senior, Hallam, who is third on the team with 10.1 points per game, and four juniors. In total, the Pioneers have more active freshmen than active juniors and seniors, with six and five, respectively.

“Our biggest weakness is how young we are and our lack of experience,” said Udofia. “But, we’re trying to use that as an advantage and learn quickly, and it’s starting to work out well now.”

Next weekend, the Pioneers will host San Jose State (3-2 WAC) and Utah State (5-0 WAC) at Magness Arena. DU will have to focus on shutting down high scorers James Kinney (20.6 points per game, SJSU) and Preston Medlin (16.4 points per game, Utah State) in order to continue their winning ways.