The result was predictable, given that the University of Denver men’s basketball team entered 13-1 at home. For most of Thursday night’s game, however, the Pioneers were atypical when it came to shooting without pressure at Magness Arena.
DU managed to remain perfect at home in Sun Belt Conference play (8-0), but its 62-57 victory over Arkansas-Little Rock wasn’t indicative of how the Pioneers need to play to turn around their road woes (1-10, 0-7 Sun Belt).
“We played well. We just missed foul shots,” said DU coach Joe Scott, whose team was 4-of-11 in free throws in the first half and 13-of-30 for the game. “If we make foul shots tonight, that’s a 20-point (or) 15-point win. . . . If you want to win games on the road, win games in March, you have to be a good foul-shooting team. Obviously, we’re going to take note of this.”
Sophomore guard Brian Stafford paced DU with 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field. His biggest bucket was a 3-pointer coming just after Matt Mouzy hit a trey to bring the Trojans within 53-50 with 2:06 to play.
DU’s Chase Hallam added an immediate layup off a steal, and Justin Coughlin and Stafford combined to go 4-of-4 from the line to put the game away. Arkansas-Little Rock, which entered having won just three of its previous 13 games, fell to 7-20, 2-13.
“I think we played pretty well as a team,” Stafford said. “We just missed half our free throws, and that’s pretty frustrating.”
Denver (15-11, 8-7) led from the opening tipoff and, despite missing seven of its first eight free throws, had a 22-9 advantage midway through the first half. The poor shooting from the line, however, was just as good as DU turnovers, and the Trojans went on a 13-6 run to come within 28-22 at intermission.
The Pioneers, who entered the game shooting 72 percent from the line, were 9-of-19 (47 percent) in the second half. But thanks to Stafford and good defense and clutch shots from Hallam (11 points, five rebounds), Nate Rohnert (11 points, eight rebounds, two steals) and Andrew Hooper (five points, two steals), they were able to overcome.
DU plays at New Orleans on Saturday and at South Alabama next Thursday before concluding the regular season Feb. 27 against Louisiana-Lafayette.
Mike Chambers: 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com
