No matter how unusual, the house lost Sunday at Magness Arena.
The explanation was simple: South Alabama played a better hand at the end, and the home- standing Denver Pioneers were left without any face cards in a 48-47 setback that put a crimp in DU’s plans for postseason play.
The loss was the Pioneers’ first at home in the Sun Belt Conference this season, ending their 16-game home winning streak in SBC games dating to last season. DU fell to 13-14 overall, 9-5 conference and into a three-way tie with Louisiana-Lafayette and Arkansas State atop the West Division.
South Alabama trailed 31-17 at halftime but roared back behind 10 second-half points by Tim Williams. Now DU faces road games Thursday at Louisiana-Lafayette and Saturday at North Texas.
The top two finishers in the division gain a first-round bye at the March 5-8 conference tournament in Hot Springs, Ark.
“Our motivation going into the road trip was that we had to win those games,” DU coach Joe Scott said. “This doesn’t change that. You have to play well in late February. There’s not a team that is going to just let you win in late February.”
The Jaguars took their first lead of the game at 46-45 on a 3-pointer by guard Gary Redus with 1:33 remaining. A follow layup by Augustine Rubit, who tied for the team lead with 14 points, made it 48-45 with 34 seconds left.
Twice, Denver’s bid to tie the score came up short. With the clock ticking down, Chase Hallam made a 3-pointer, but Scott had called a timeout with 12 seconds left before Hallam fired.
Then, Brian Stafford was fouled on a 3-point attempt with seven seconds left. Stafford, DU’s best free-throw shooter at 86.9 percent, missed the first free throw and hit the last two for a one-point deficit. The Pioneers fouled Redus, who missed the front end of a one-and- one. DU got the ball but was unable to get off a good shot.
“We were in a good position, but unfortunately, I only made two of the free throws,” Stafford said. “We had open looks in the second half and didn’t knock down our shots.”
The Pioneers were 5-for-20 from the field in the second half.
Hallam was 4-for-6 in the second half and finished with a double- double of 15 points and 12 rebounds.
SOUTH ALABAMA (11-14, 5-9 SUN BELT)
Carter 1-4 5-6 7, Rubit 6-12 2-3 14, Brock 1-10 0-1 2, Redus 2-6 0-1 5, Williams 4-9 6-7 14, Cooks 1-4 0-0 3, Martin 0-0 0-0 0, Hersey 0-0 0-0 0, Lundy 1-1 1-2 3. Totals 16-46 14-20 48.
DENVER (13-14, 9-5)
Coughlin 3-6 0-1 6, C.Hallam 6-11 0-0 15, Stafford 1-7 2-3 5, Thalken 1-3 0-0 3, T Hallam 3-9 0-0 7, Noonan 0-0 0-0 0, K.Lewis 1-3 0-0 3, Udofia 3-9 2-4 8. Totals 18-48 4-8 47.
Halftime — Denver 31-17. 3-point goals — South Alabama 2-8 (Cooks 1-1, Redus 1-3, Brock 0-2, Williams 0-2), Denver 7-19 (C.Hallam 3-3, K.Lewis 1-2, Thalken 1-2, Stafford 1-5, T.Hallam 1-6, Coughlin 0-1). Fouled out — None. Rebounds — South Alabama 31 (Rubit 16), Denver 34 (C.Hallam 12). Assists — South Alabama 4 (Brock 2), Denver 13 (Stafford 4). Total fouls — South Alabama 10, Denver 15. A — 4,249.
Irv Moss: 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com
