Nov. 15, 2002

Box Score

DENVER - Junior forward Zeljko "Ziggy" Zupic (Sinj, Croatia) poured in 18 points, and senior guard B.J. Pratt (San Antonio, Texas) followed with a strong 14-point performance to lead the University of Denver men's basketball team to a 93-66 exhibition win over Colorado Christian at Magness Arena Friday night.

Zupic finished the night with 18 points, five rebounds, two blocks and two steals to help the Pioneer finish a perfect two-game exhibition preseason. Combined the two upperclassmen shot 14-for-23 (.609) on the night, propelling Denver to 57 percent (35-of-61) shooting as a squad.

Clinton Fuller led the Division II Cougars with a game-high 19 points

"Tonight showed that we have room for improvement," said head coach Terry Carroll. "Colorado Christian did some things tonight that we just haven't been able to simulate in practice, so we're going to work on those things next week, and we'll improve them. On the positive side, we rebounded the ball well, and shot the ball well, too. If you take the turnovers and fouls out of the equation, this would have been a much different game."

Denver had a 43-31 lead at half, in large part because of its dominance from the field and on the boards. The Pioneers held CCU to only 13 shots in the opening stanza, and outrebounded the Cougars 14-9. Denver finished the night with a 29-24 edge in rebounding.

The Pioneers officially open the season next Friday, November 16, 2002, with a 4 p.m. tip-off against Wyoming in Laramie.