In front of a jam-packed student section, the Pioneer men’s basketball team defeated New Mexico State 66-60 on Saturday afternoon in Magness Arena, advancing to an eight-game win streak and improving to 19-8 overall and 14-2 in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC).
“In college basketball, student [attendance] is the cherry on the top,” said head coach Joe Scott. “This time of year, to get them here is great because it creates that atmosphere.”
With the win, the Pioneers remain at No. 2 in the WAC, 1.5 games behind undefeated conference leaders Louisiana Tech (15-0), who DU will battle on Saturday in the final game of the regular season. After the loss, the third-place Aggies drop to 19-10 overall and 12-4 in the WAC.
“I thought we did a really good job of staying within ourselves tonight,” said Scott. “Our offense at the beginning of the second half went a little dry on us, but our defense was really good. We had a couple of steals that helped us make a big run.”
Four players broke into the double digits in points for the Pioneers, led by junior forward Chris Udofia with 13 points, five assists, four blocks and three steals.
Sophomore forward Royce O’Neale posted a team-high 14 points, five assists and five rebounds, while sophomore guard Brett Olson tallied 13 points, including four of four from the free-throw line, and senior guard Chase Hallam added 11 points and four rebounds. Freshman guard Jalen Love added an additional nine points, including two crucial free throws in the final 40 seconds of the game.
“There were a few instances in the game where we had to stay calm and stay with our stuff, and different guys stepped up and made some plays when they needed to,” said Scott. “That’s what you’ve got to do this time of year.”
Throughout the contest, the Aggies relied heavily on two players: senior forward Bandja Sy, who recorded a game-high 21 points, and seven-foot-five freshman center Sim Bhullar, who added another 17.
“He’s the biggest human being I’ve ever seen,” said Hallam. “But we just played strong against him and boxed him out, and it wasn’t too bad.”
The last time the two teams met was on Jan. 23, when New Mexico State topped Denver 53-42 in Las Cruces, N.M., marking the Pioneers’ only loss since Dec. 29 and one of only two losses in the conference this season. However, Scott said the team was able to use its knowledge from the previous game to its advantage.
It was a closely contested game from the opening buzzer, and the teams stayed within four points of each other for the entirety of the first half. After 20 minutes of play, the Pioneers entered the locker room trailing 27-28.
“We made a little adjustment [at halftime],” said Scott. “This time of year, everybody knows each other. We went into the game thinking we were going to do something, and then in the second half we made a little adjustment. We turned those turnovers into points to give us the cushion that you need.”
In the first nine minutes of the second half, the Pioneers trailed by as many as seven points. Two free throws from O’Neale at the 11:36 mark, however, tied the score, and Denver maintained the lead for the remainder of the game. The Aggies closed the gap to one point with less than two minutes in the contest, but DU drained eight of eight free throws to seal the deal, topped off with a three-pointer from Hallam.
“This time of year, the games are all going to be like this,” said Scott. “It’s March, and every game is big. We’re playing nothing but good teams.”
The Pioneers have two games remaining in the regular season before the WAC tournament begins March 12. On Thursday, DU will host UT Arlington (16-10, 10-5 WAC) at 7 p.m. before hosting conference leaders Louisiana Tech at 5 p.m. on Saturday.
“[We need to] just keep playing how we’re playing,” said Hallam. “We’re not worried about anything else; we’re not worried about the other team; we’re just worried about ourselves.”
The Mavericks will enter Thursday’s game having won seven of their past eight games, sitting at No. 4 in the WAC. Senior forward Kevin Butler leads the team with 274 points this season, averaging 11.4 points per game, followed by senior forward Jordan Reves with 227 points.
On Saturday, the Pioneers will battle the Bulldogs, who haven’t lost a game since Dec. 12 and boast a perfect conference record. Denver will have to contain sophomore guard Raheem Appleby, who has tallied 412 points so far this season.
“We just have to take it one game at a time,” said Scott. “We have made it a two-team race [for the WAC title]. We just have to concentrate on ourselves. It’s the only way we can get to the point where we’re playing for the WAC championship.”
