Jan. 25, 2003

Box Score

NEW ORLEANS - Junior center Brett Starkey (Lakewood, Colo.) scored a career-high 22 points and eight rebounds and sophomore guard Erik Benzel (Spokane, Wash.) added 17 points, but it was not enough as the University of Denver men's basketball team was defeated 75-65 by New Orleans in Sun Belt Conference (SBC) play Saturday night in Lakefront Arena.

Denver falls to 12-8 overall and 4-2 in the SBC, while New Orleans improves to 10-8 overall and 4-3 in SBC play.

The Pioneers dug themselves a hole for the second straight night, committing five fouls while going down 8-2 after five minutes of play. A turnaround jump shot by senior center Steve Simmons (Salt Lake City, Utah) at the 11:05 mark kept the gap at six (12-6). The lead grew to 16-9 on a layup by UNO's Johnell Smith with 6:42 remaining.

Denver finally woke from its slumber and closed to within three (21-18) at the 2:41 mark. Despite shooting 33 percent (10-of-30) the Pioneers found themselves only down by a 26-22 margin at the half.

The second half began with both teams struggling to take care of the basketball. Starkey converted a Privateer turnover to push Denver within one (31-30) four minutes into the half. The Pioneers failed to correct their errors, but New Orleans did and went on a 15-6 run opening up a 46-36 lead with 11:00 remaining in the game.

Denver was unable to stop the bleeding going down by 11 (52-41) with just 7:38 left on the clock. The Pioneers mounted one last ditch-effort closing to 67-58 (1:56). Denver got to within eight 69-61 but was unable to get any closer as the Pioneers lost their second straight game.

Smith led New Orleans with a game-high 27 points and Hector Romero added 18.

Denver returns to action on Thursday, January 30 when they host conference foe New Mexico State for the first game of a two-game home stand. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. MT and can be heard live on DenverPioneers.com