A 13-point victory is nothing to sneeze at, and coach Joe Scott and the Denver Pioneers weren’t showing any disdain at stretching their Sun Belt Conference record to 4-1 Sunday at Magness Arena.
But junior guard Chase Hallam did say that a 78-65 victory over Western Kentucky also provided a learning experience as the 14-4 Pioneers continued the best Division I start in DU basketball history.
The learning experience came after Western Kentucky (5-14, 1-5) came back from a 27-point deficit at halftime to at least give the Pioneers something to think about.
The Hilltoppers cut DU’s lead to 67-54 with 5:39 left.
“I think we’ve gotten a little too comfortable in the past with big leads, and that’s why we have to learn from this experience,” Hallam said.
“It never got to within single digits, so we always felt comfortable with the lead, but we have to turn 27-point leads into 30-point victories.”
For a time, it seemed the Pioneers might win by 30 points.
Led by sophomore Chris Udofia, who finished with a strong 20-point, 11-rebound performance, the Pioneers put one of their best performances of the season together in the first half.
Western Kentucky didn’t break into the scoring column until Teeng Akol made a field goal 6:22 into the game. By that time, the Pioneers were up 9-2, and the first-half rout was on.
There were several positives for the Pioneers in the full 40 minutes. They shot 59.6 percent from the floor and scored 20 points off 11 Western Kentucky turnovers.
For Udofia, it was the third double-double of his career, featuring double figures in rebounding for only the third time.
But there was another factor of his game that was even more of an asset. He finished with three fouls.
“The last three or four games, I’ve had a lot of foul trouble,” Udofia said. “Once I got through the first half today with no fouls, I knew I could play more fluidly and aggressively.”
Scott credited his team with taking advantage of its talent.
“Western Kentucky has some good young players, and I think we did a good job making them play like freshmen,” Scott said. “I thought we did a good job making the game be the way we wanted to play.”
Irv Moss: 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com
WESTERN KENTUCKY (5-14)
Zollo 2-2 0-0 5, Fant 1-3 1-2 3, McDonald 3-6 2-3 11, Gordon 1-7 4-4 6, Crook 1-3 0-0 2, Anyigbo 0-0 0-0 0, Kaspar 1-5 3-3 5, Akamune 3-3 0-1 6, Snipes 4-8 2-2 10, Akol 1-3 3-4 5, Price 5-9 0-0 12.Totals 22-49 15-19 65.
DENVER (14-4)
Lewis 2-4 0-0 4, Udofia 8-12 4-7 20, Stafford 5-9 2-2 15, Olson 2-4 0-0 5, C. Hallam 4-8 0-0 11, Coughlin 2-3 0-0 4, Foeman 0-0 0-0 0, T. Hallam 1-1 0-0 3, O’Neale 4-6 6-7 16, Pickert 0-0 0-0 0, Griffin 0-0 0-0 0.Totals 28-47 12-16 78.
Halftime —Denver 43-16. 3-point goals —W. Kentucky 6-15 (McDonald 3-6, Price 2-5, Zollo 1-1, Snipes 0-1, Gordon 0-2), Denver 10-17 (Stafford 3-5, C. Hallam 3-5, O’Neale 2-2, T. Hallam 1-1, Olson 1-3, Lewis 0-1). Fouled out —Fant, Gordon. Rebounds —W. Kentucky 26 (Akamune 8), Denver 26 (Udofia 11). Assists —W. Kentucky 12 (Crook, McDonald, Price 3), Denver 20 (C. Hallam, Olson 5).Total fouls — Western Kentucky 18, Denver 17.A — 6,232.
