Despite a heartbreaking 80-78 overtime loss to mid-major powerhouse Iona, the DU men’s basketball team received enough votes to enter CollegeInsider.com’s Mid-Major Top 25 poll on Monday.
The Pioneers (6-2) are off to their best start under head coach Joe Scott, knocking off a pair of NCAA tournament teams from last season – St. Mary’s (Ca.) and Utah State, which has resulted in some national attention.
“Recognition is always a good thing, but [the ranking] doesn’t mean anything to me,” said Scott on Tuesday. “The best part of that kind of recognition is that it’s a team thing. We’re getting recognized because we’ve been playing good competition and we’ve been play well, and [rankings] are something that comes from those two factors.”
In the loss to Iona, the Pioneers blew a 13-point second half lead down the stretch, fumbling away a season-high 20 turnovers.
Despite a career-best performance from freshman point guard Brett Olson, the team saw the Gaels go on a 7-0 run in the final minutes of regulation to cause overtime.
In the extra period, Iona (7-1) proved to be the better team, outlasting the Pioneers in the final minute to secure arguably their biggest win of the season.
Iona, the No. 3-ranked team on the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll, leads the nation in assists despite a season-worst effort against the Pioneers.
“We can turn that Iona loss into something real positive,” said Scott. “Sometimes in the early part of the season, you can look at a heartbreaking loss as a developmental game. And that’s when you know you’re maturing as a team, when you can take a loss and turn it into a positive.”
While the non-conference wins, and losses, have been monumental in building the DU basketball program – the road win against USU marked the first home loss for the Aggies in 33 games, Scott believes the team can’t afford to look too far ahead with four games coming in the next eight days.
“I’m not trying to look back at the last game; what I’m trying to do is to get our guys to have passion and competitiveness and have that show up whenever they take the court,” said Scott. “I don’t want to get stuck somewhere in the past and I don’t want to get caught looking ahead for something in the future. When you look at records and rankings, you paralyze yourself because your concentrating on things that only have meaning at the end of the year.”
The Pioneers have had a week long to prepare for the four-game stretch, which includes games against in-state foe Northern Colorado, regional-rivals Boise State and Wyoming and the Citadel.
Following that stretch, the team will have a week off to rest and to prepare for its Sun Belt Conference schedule, which begins Dec. 29 against Troy.
