Photo by: Adam Hammerman
The clock struck zero, the buzzer roared and the students erupted onto the court to celebrate the Pioneer basketball team’s trouncing of top-ranked Middle Tennessee 75-60 on Saturday.
The Pioneers clinched arguably their biggest win in program history in front of a national audience, blowing past a Blue Raiders squad that entered the game 10-0 in SBC play.
“It was a total team win and a total university win,” said head coach Joe Scott. “We’ve been waiting a long time for this and hopefully this is the type of game that gets our students and the entire university behind this team. We’ve been playing well all year and it’s great to see the students creating this type of environment.”
The rowdy crowd of 6,000-plus fans surged Magness Arena throughout the afternoon as ESPN2 cameras broadcast the Denver program’s first basketball game on the network, providing the much-needed collegiate basketball atmosphere.
“We’ve had great crowds all year, but we have to give credit to our students for creating this environment,” said Scott. “Middle Tennessee is an extremely good team and we have to give them credit, because they’re the type of opponent that creates this type of environment.”
The Pioneers (17-7, 7-4 SBC) gave MTSU (21-4, 10-1) their largest margin of defeat this season, shooting a stout 50 percent from the field on 25 of 50 shots and capitalizing at the free throw line with 22 of 25 made free throws.
More importantly, the Denver defense stifled the MTSU offense late in the game, extending the lead following an extremely competitive first half that saw eight lead changes in the first seven minutes.
In the second half, the Pioneers outscored the Blue Raiders 41-29, improving to 17-1 when holding opponents under 65 points.
“The defense set us up all day; they had a lot of turnovers and that was the key,” said Scott. “Also, rebounding was our focus all week, and we did a good job there. We combined the best of who we are today.”
Despite being out-rebounded, the Pioneers were able to establish a presence in the low post on both ends of the court.
Redshirts senior forward Rob Lewis and sophomore forward Chris Udofia were essential in the victory, contributing season-best performances against the SBC’s top team. Lewis scored a season-high 17 points, returning to the lineup earlier in the week after missing several games.
Udofia was also a difference maker, notching a career-best 27 points and collecting nine rebounds. In addition, he blocked four crucial shots and shot an efficient 71.4 percent from the field, including two three-pointers.
Udofia was named the SBC Men’s Basketball Player of the Week on Monday, following Saturday’s performance.
“Chris was spectacular throughout the game,” said Scott. “We’re in full strength with Rob back in the lineup and that’s always a good thing when you’re playing in February.”
Along with defense and rebounding, turnover margin was a crucial element to the outcome of the game. Denver forced MTSU into 17 turnovers, while limiting themselves to only eight.
“Defense, rebound and take care of the basketball: those were the keys to the game going against an aggressive opponent,” said Scott. “Our freshmen Brett Olson and Royce O’Neale deserve some big-time credit for handling the pressure.”
Olson didn’t exactly light up the box score, recording only four points and two assists, but the freshman played 36 mistake-free minutes, leading the team offensively as the point guard.
O’Neale had a career night earlier in the week in an overtime loss to Louisiana Lafayette on Thursday, recording his first career double-double with 21 points and 13 rebounds. He responded with another gem of a performance on Saturday, scoring 14 points off the bench.
“Coming off a heartbreaking loss on Thursday, to play at this high of a level is amazing,” said Scott. “The entire team responded and I think we’ve been doing that all year long. We don’t seem to get bothered easily, which is a good sign.”
The loss on Thursday was one of the team’s first back-to-back losses of the season, following a road loss on Jan. 28 to Arkansas-Little Rock.
The Pioneers are currently in 3rd place of the West Division standings, trailing both UALR and ULL in conference play.
As for MTSU, the Blue Raiders maintain a four-and-a-half game lead in the East Division over Florida Atlantic. FAU will host DU on Thursday at 5 p.m. Last season, the Owls finished first overall in the SBC after the regular season.
Denver will play its final road contest of the season on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. at Florida International, the team that knocked them out of the SBC tournament last March.
DU finishes its regular season with three home contests against ULL, Louisiana Monroe and North Texas.
