Yemi Nicholson has help.
Monday night, it was junior college transfer guard DaShawn Walker, who scored 17 points in the second half to help the University of Denver beat visiting Wyoming.
Thursday night, it was reserve senior Brett Seger, who tallied a career-high 15 points in the Pioneers’ 67-48 victory over New Orleans in the Sun Belt Conference opener for both teams at Magness Arena.
As usual, DU center Nicholson was the star of the game. Last season’s Sun Belt player of the year had 22 points and 16 rebounds for the seventh double-double of his senior season and second in a row.
Seger, a 6-foot-5 swingman from Omaha, was DU’s second-best player. He came off the bench and made 5-of-6 field goals, including 3-of-4 from behind the 3-point arc in a game DU took control of midway through the second half.
“It’s great to see a senior be able to step up like Brett did tonight,” DU coach Terry Carroll said after his team improved to 7-6, including 4-0 at a Ritchie Center venue. “Last two games, he’s provided huge energy, lots of intensity and emotion. Tonight was a classic example of Brett bringing what he’s capable of to the court.”
David Kummer (14 points, eight rebounds) and Andrew Carpenter (five assists, three steals) also had strong games for the Pioneers, who shot a season-best 65 percent from the floor in the second half.
Seger has scored 24 points in two games this week after producing just 12 in DU’s first 11 contests.
“Coach (Marcus) Mason told me to just stay in it,” Seger said, referring to one of Carroll’s assistants. “At the start of the season I was playing just under 10 minutes a game, after last year being our sixth man. So that was discouraging. But I kept working hard, and my shots have been good the last couple games.”
New Orleans (3-9, 0-1) led early, and the game was tied at 33 with 13:56 to play. But Nicholson produced a layup and a dunk on consecutive possessions and Kummer sank a 3-pointer for a 40-33 DU lead, and the Privateers never got closer.
Footnotes
Carroll won his 65th game at DU, tying him with Clyde Hubbard (1932-40) for fourth in program history. … DU’s three-game homestand continues Saturday night against Louisiana-Lafayette, which defeated the Pioneers in last season’s Sun Belt Tournament championship game.
Mike Chambers can be reached at 303-820-5453 or mchambers@denverpost.com.
