No one wants a nightmare, but away games have been recurring nightmares for the Pioneers men’s basketball team.
Road games are nightmares for the Pioneer men’s basketball team as they have lost every conference game on the road this season.
DU lost to the University of Louisiana-Monroe last Saturday 53-48 and to North Texas 62-48 last Thursday.
In Saturday’s loss to ULM, only two Pioneers earned double-digit earned. Freshman forward Rob Lewis went for a career-high 21 points and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds, while sophomore forward Nate Rohnert had 13 points.
The rest of DU’s line-up scored no more than five points and as little as two points.
For the 15th time this season a team-high four steals, freshman guard Xander McNally had
The first half see-sawed until the 6:37 mark when ULM’s senior guard Lance Brasher made good on a lay-up and propelled the Warhawks to a 19-17 lead. DU continued to yield points and hit the lockers trailing 27-21 after the first half.
The game began to change in the Pioneers’ favor during the second half. Lewis sparked a 15-0 run in the second half with a successful lay-up at the 16:55 mark. With 8:09 left in the contest, the Pioneers held the lead 38-33.
The Warhawks, however, didn’t let up and crushed the Pioneers with three three-pointers during a 13-1 run.
With 58 seconds left, DU had crawled back to a three-point deficit. Free throws made the difference, as the Warhawks finished the game with five for the victory.
“We had a chance to win with a five-point lead in the second half, but give the Warhocks credit for making big shot down the stretch,” said Head Coach Joe Scott. “We need to learn to hold onto those leads and to be the ones making the big shots at the end of the game.”
Junior guard Joe Jackson was the only Pioneer last Thursday to earn double-digit efforts in DU’s loss to North Texas. Jackson had 13 points and 4-4 in free throws.
Jackson jump-started the first half and gave DU a 2-0 lead. That was the only time during the game that the Pioneers would have the lead. North Texas’s largest lead was 23 points at the 9:39 mark.
The Pioneers made only 18 points inside the paint and shot 41 percent, while the Mean Green made 38 points inside the paint and shot 52.2 percent. “North Texas has a good inside game, and their big guys played well tonight,” said Scott after the game.
The Pioneers lack “big guys.” DU’s starting line-up is made up of three freshmen and only one junior and senior. But does this mean that success isn’t possible and that the Pioneers are inevitably building a program?
In 2003, the Syracuse Orange won the NCAA Championship with two freshmen and one sophomore leading the team. Kevin Garnett, Amare Stoudemire and Dwight Howard are among many NBA players who have forgone college and entered the NBA out of high school.
The Pioneers have proven that success is possible. Maybe there’s another reason why the team consistently loses on the road?
DU’s young guns are undefeated at home in conference games, but are 100 percent defeated in conference games on the road. The same teams they have defeated at home, they have lost to on the road. Ages don’t change, the court, however, does.
Just as road games are nightmares, home games are sweet dreams. This week the Pioneers will take on Middle Tennessee on Thursday and New Orleans on Sunday. Both games are at Magness Arena.
