Behind 38 points from sophomore point guard Brett Olson, the Pioneer men’s basketball team completed a road sweep of Texas San Antonio and Texas State over the weekend, advancing to 13-8 overall and 9-2 in the Western Athletic Conference.
After the weekend, the Pioneers are tied for No. 2 in the WAC with New Mexico State, who is also 9-2 in conference. Louisiana Tech leads the WAC with a 10-0 conference record.
“We had a really good week of practice,” said Olson. “We’re going through the second time of playing every team again, and we knew it would be tough, especially on the road. But we had a lot of guys contribute, and a staple of our program is just to believe in what we do.”
The Pioneers started the weekend with a 71-57 victory over the Roadrunners (5-15, 1-9 WAC) at the UTSA Convocation Center on Thursday night. Led by Olson’s 16 points and senior guard Chase Hallam’s 12, Denver led by as many as 28 points during the contest.
“Our guys came out really focused, and our defense was terrific,” said head coach Joe Scott. “That set the tone. We built a lead and kept it. We responded well off the New Mexico State loss, which was important as well.”
A number of underclassmen stepped up for Denver, including redshirt freshman Marcus Byrd, who recorded 10 points after shooting four-for-four overall and two-for-two from the three-point range. Sophomore forward Royce O’Neale, who leads the team in assists and rebounds, contributed six assists and seven rebounds on the evening, while sophomore Cam Griffin almost doubled his career best with seven assists.
Denver started the contest strong, scoring five three-pointers in the first 6:29 and shooting 60.9 percent from the floor and 53.3 percent from beyond the arc in the first half. Defense was also key, as the Pioneers held the Roadrunners to 37.5 percent from the floor and one-of-five from the three-point range in the first half. Denver entered the locker room leading 39-19 at halftime.
Senior guard Kannon Burrage led the Roadrunners with a game-high 19 points, but UTSA was unable to match Denver’s shooting accuracy, ending the evening at 18-of-38 (47.4 percent) from the floor.
On Saturday, the team traveled north to take on Texas State (7-16, 3-8 WAC) at the Strahan Coliseum, where the Pioneers topped the Bobcats 79-64. Olson again led the Pioneers with career highs of 22 points and seven assists, increasing his season total to 217 points.
“We played well. We did what we needed to do in both games,” said Scott. “We came out in the second half and guarded dribblers and took care of the ball, which is exactly what we talked about at halftime.”
Junior forward Chris Udofia also posted a solid performance, recording 12 points, six rebounds, four blocks and three steals for Denver.
O’Neale again stepped up for the Pioneers with 14 points and five assists, while freshman Jalen Love scored 12 points.
“I think if you look at the stat sheet, everybody contributed,” said Scott. “Our top four guys—Chase, Chris, Royce and Brett—are playing solid, getting better and really starting to play well.”
Junior forward Joel Wright led the Bobcats with a double-double, posting 33 points and 12 rebounds, but Texas State was unable to lead the contest at any point and eventually fell by 15 points to DU.
“I see signs that we’re continuing to grow and get better, which is what’s most important as we head into February,” said Scott.
The Pioneers are now preparing to host Seattle and Idaho at 7 p.m. on Thursday and at 4 p.m. on Saturday, respectively.
Seattle, sitting at No. 9 in the conference, is currently 7-14 overall and 2-9 in the WAC. The Redhawks enter the contest having lost four of their last five games, including a 46-68 loss to Utah State last Saturday.
Junior forward Clarence Trent, who is averaging 11.1 points per game with 233 points so far this season, leads Seattle in scoring.
Idaho, 9-12 overall and 5-6 in the WAC, currently sits at No. 6 in the conference. The Vandals will face New Mexico State on Thursday before traveling to Denver.
In the teams’ last meeting on Jan. 10, the Pioneers topped Idaho 55-49. Senior center Kyle Barone leads the Vandals with 343 points in 21 games this season, averaging more than 16 points per game.
“We’ve played them both before, and we’ve beat them both before at their places,” said Olson. “They’ll probably come in with a little extra intensity, wanting to beat us at our place, but we’ll just have to be prepared and stick to what we do.”
