Jan. 16, 2003

Box Score

DENVER - Sophomore Erik Benzel (Spokane, Wash.) scored 18 points and junior Brett Starkey (Lakewood, Colo.) added 16 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Denver Pioneers to an 82-68 win over Arkansas State in Sun Belt Conference (SBC) play tonight in Hamilton Gymnasium.

Denver improves to 11-6 overall and 3-0 in the SBC, while Arkansas State falls to 6-9 overall and 0-3 in SBC play.

"If the rest of the guys give the effort that Brett (Starkey) gives, our team is really fun to watch," head coach Terry Carroll said. "We can't take any team for granted in our league. We really need to string together a winning streak and this is a start."

The Pioneers started slowly, but Starkey's left-handed jump hook tied the score at 21 and keyed a 15-4 run by Denver. Benzel helped Denver regain the lead at 24-21 with a three-pointer and his 19-foot baseline jumper right before the halftime buzzer gave the Pioneers a 38-33 lead. Benzel shot 7-of-14 from the floor and knocked down four three-pointers to give the Denver its third straight win and school-best 3-0 start in the SBC.

"Tonight Starkey opened up things a lot," Benzel said. "He's been playing so well in the post that he's really been making them (opponents) respect his game in the post. It's really been opening things up for us from the three-point line."

Arkansas State started the second half with a 9-4 run, but Denver answered with a 10-0 run highlighted by back-to-back three-pointers by junior Ziggy Zupic (Sinj, Croatia) and senior Dusty Wadlington (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) to go up 52-42 at 14:50. Tevoris Thompson kept Arkansas State in the game with 14 second-half points, but it wasn't enough as the Pioneers outscored the Indians 44-35 in the second half and improved to 6-0 at home this season.

Zupic and senior B.J. Pratt (San Antonio, Texas) added 12 points each for Denver, which shot 12-of-27 from three-point land. Starkey, the reigning SBC Player of the Week, recorded his seventh double-double of the year as Denver outrebounded Arkansas State 43-24. Wadlington added eight points and a team-high five assists.

Tony Brown led Arkansas State with 17 points, Thompson netted 16 and Paris London added 11.

Denver returns to action on Sunday, Jan. 19 when they host conference foe Arkansas Little-Rock at 1 p.m. MST.