The much improved University of Denver men’s basketball team has won five consecutive games, each at home. It’s a nice streak, but now the real challenge begins, winning on the road.
DU enters tonight’s Sun Belt Conference game at New Orleans having lost 36 consecutive road games, the longest current streak in Division I basketball. It’s still a long way from the NCAA record of 64 set by Texas-Pan American over nearly a five-year span that ended Jan. 8, 2000.
“I’m confident, seeing the way our team has grown over the last three weeks, following a tough start,” junior forward Nate Rohnert said of tonight’s game against New Orleans (5-7, 1-1). “We’re playing together, and if we play the way we’ve been playing, we’ll have a good chance to win.”
The Pioneers (6-6) were 0-16 on the road last season, the first under coach Joe Scott.
DU’s last road win was March 5, 2006, a 58-57 upset at Middle Tennessee in the Sun Belt Tournament. No current Pioneers have experienced a road victory given that there are no seniors on the team, or juniors who have had a redshirt season.
The Pioneers are enjoying their best stretch of success in the past three years. At 2-0 in Sun Belt play, they lead the conference’s West Division.
Scott said no one on the team talks about the road streak.
“None of these guys were part of most of it,” he said. “It’s just a matter of this group of guys growing up, playing better and winning on the road. These guys are ready to win on the road. They’re showing more and more confidence.”
Scott starts two freshmen, two sophomores and a junior. His reserves are all first-year players.
“Winning on the road is all about development as a team, a program, and we’ve been progressing in a positive manner,” Scott said. “It’s all about going from freshmen to sophomores, sophomore to juniors, and learning how to win on a consistent basis, which we have done at home. Winning on the road is our next step.”
Mike Chambers: 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com
