When Tim Miles’ necktie came off Saturday at Magness Arena, the University of Denver began to help undress the Colorado State Rams.
Miles, the CSU coach, ripped off his tie when Rams guard Marcus Walker was called for a charge on DU’s Nate Rohnert at midcourt, with the Pioneers clinging to a one-point lead with 3:44 to play.
Miles was given a technical foul, and DU connected on 15 of its ensuing 19 shots from the free-throw line to win comfortably, 66-55, before a bipartisan crowd of 3,692.
“Sometimes you feel like you have to fight for your team,” Miles said. “I just wanted to make it clear, I was fighting for my guys. It didn’t work out that way, and unfortunately it was at a critical time.”
It was the third straight victory for improving DU (4-6) and fourth in its past five games, while CSU (3-8) lost its sixth straight and 22nd in a row on the road.
DU, made up of eight freshmen, three sophomores and two juniors, was leading 51-50 when Miles got rid of his tie.
“It was huge,” Rohnert, who had a team-high 17 points, said of Walker’s charge. “The momentum was going their way. We had a couple turnovers and I saw (Walker) was kind of flying out of control, and I was able to step in front of him and get a charge. Obviously, the coach wasn’t too happy, and he got the technical. After that, we really never looked back.”
Before and after the controversial charge, DU was the better team. The young Pioneers limited the Rams to 16 points in the first half, leading 24-16 at the break, and drained nine 3-pointers to CSU’s six.
Freshmen Andrew Hooper and Brian Stafford produced 16 and 14 points, respectively, and sophomore Rob Lewis chipped in 12 for DU.
Denver answered every CSU rally. The Rams scored the first nine points of the second half, taking a 25-24 lead, but Hooper sank consecutive 3-pointers to make it 30-25. And when Travis Franklin’s layup tied it at 41, DU went on a 10-5 run.
“Coming into this game off two wins, I thought we were ready to play,” DU coach Joe Scott said. “I could sense our guys getting more and more confident.
“We played a good two halves. We might not have had a good start at the beginning of the second half, but I thought overall we played well.”
COLORADO STATE (3-8)
Walker 3-13 1-2 9, McFarland 2-7 0-0 5, Ogide 1-4 0-0 2, Gardner 3-6 1-3 9, Vandervieren 2-4 2-2 6, Franklin 4-8 3-5 11, Carr 2-3 0-2 4, Nigon 4-4 0-0 9, Perry 0-1 0-0 0, Simmons 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-51 7-14 55.
DENVER (4-6)
Stafford 4-9 4-9 14, R.Lewis 2-4 7-7 12, K.Lewis 0-1 0-0 0, Coughlin 0-2 0-0 0, Rohnert 5-11 5-6 17, Hallam 1-3 2-2 4, Chen 0-1 0-0 0, Hooper 5-9 3-4 16, Peter-Denman 1-1 0-0 3. Totals 18-41 21-28 66.
Halftime — DU 24-16. 3-point goals — CSU 6-15 (Gardner 2-3, Walker 2-8, Nigon 1-1, McFarland 1-2, Carr 0-1), Denver 9-26 (Hooper 3-5, Rohnert 2-5, Stafford 2-6, Peter-Denman 1-1, R.Lewis 1-3, Chen 0-1, K.Lewis 0-1, Coughlin 0-2, Hallam 0-2). Fouled out — Nigon. Rebounds — CSU 34 (McFarland 7), DU 27 (Hooper 8). Assists — CSU 12 (Carr, Walker 3), DU 15 (Hallam 5). Total fouls — CSU 23, DU 17. Technical — CSU bench. A — 3,692.
Mike Chambers: 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com
