Game recap

mgsteve · January 16, 2004

Pioneers Fall to North Texas, 72-67

First half ends Denver's chances

Jan. 15, 2004

DENTON, Texas - The Denver Pioneers fell to North Texas 72-67 tonight in Sun Belt Conference action at the Super Pit in Denton, Texas. Denver was down by 21, but fought back to take a one point second-half lead. UNT scored 12 of the final 18 points to defeat the Pioneers. Denver falls to 8-6, 0-2 with its second consecutive loss. The Mean Green improve to 6-8, 1-1.

"The basketball team does not have any room for error," said head coach Terry Carroll. "I cannot figure out why we struggle in the first half. That is not us, we are going to fight and get the game going our direction."

Things were a little sluggish early as a 3-point bucket by Leonard Hopkins gave North Texas an early 7-4 lead with 16:40 remaining in the first half. Denver used a 9-0 run to open a four-point lead, but 11 consecutive points by UNT capped off by a Jerome Rogers 3-poiner pushed the Mean Green back in front 20-13 at 10:23 mark.

North Texas increased its lead to nine (26-17) off two free throws by Shawnson Johnson with just 7:21 left in the first half. UNT continued to build on its lead, increasing it to 16 (39-23) off a Calvin Watson 3-point basket with just 3:53 remaining in the first stanza. The Mean Green pressure remained intense, as Marqus Mitchell jumper at the buzzer upped the margin to 46-26.

The Pioneers finally woke up and went to work; beginning the second half with a 12-0 run that cut the lead to 49-40. Junior point guard Rodney Billups (Denver, Colo.) capped off the run with two free throws at the 15:42 mark. Denver cut the margin to seven, but a free throw by Justin Barnett moved the lead back to eight (56-48) with 11:52 left in the game.

The Pioneers went on another 9-0 run and took the lead off a jumper by senior forward Carvell McAlister (Fresno, Calif.), but two free throws by Ty Thomas put North Texas backup, 60-57, with 7:34 remaining in the contest. The two teams traded buckets over the next four minutes with two Johnson free throws giving UNT a one-point advantage (62-61) at the 4:16 mark. The Mean Green scored 12 of the last 18 points to hold off the Pioneers.

Junior guar Erik Benzel (Spokane, Wash.) led Denver with 17 points. McAlister led Denver and 16 and Billups contributed 10. Johnson led all scores with 19.

UNT won the rebounding battle, 39-29, led by Johnson's 13. Senior center Brett Starkey (Lakewood, Colo.) led the Pioneers with six.

The Pioneers return to the friendly confines of Magness Arena on Sat., Jan. 17, to play host to SBC foe Florida International at 7 p.m. A host of the Pioneers' former great players, including the All-Century team which will be announced tomorrow night at an alumni dinner will be in attendance as the University of Denver continues its year long celebration of 100 years of men's basketball.

MeanGreenNation · January 16, 2004

Why can't our guys get on the ball and update the site the night of the game? Every school I ever saw come through during the football games had guys from the school with laptops updating the site during the game. I really wish ours would do that as well.

MrStrange62 · January 16, 2004

Why can't our guys get on the ball and update the site the night of the game? Every school I ever saw come through during the football games had guys from the school with laptops updating the site during the game. I really wish ours would do that as well.

In fact, in comparison to other school sites, our athletics pages look mideval. WHo does the web page updates anyway?

GMG!!!