Feb. 13, 2003

Box Score

DENVER - Junior center Brett Starkey (Lakewood, Colo.) scored a career-high 29 points and junior forward Carvell McAlister (Fresno, Calif.) added a career-high 21 points and 11 rebounds to lead the University of Denver men's basketball team to a 90-84 win over North Texas in Sun Belt Conference (SBC) play tonight in Magness Arena in front of a record crowd of 4,799.

Denver improves to 13-13 overall and 5-7 in the SBC, while North Texas falls to 7-16 overall and 2-9 in SBC play.

The two teams traded blows during the first four minutes with the Mean Green leading 5-4. Two free throws by Starkey gave the Pioneers a four-point margin (11-7) at the 12:25 mark of the first half.

UNT responded tying the score at 20-20 with 8:13 remaining in the half. Starkey added two more free throws as Denver went ahead 31-28 with 4:35 left in the first frame. Denver closed the half strong leading by a score of 43-36 at the break.

The Pioneers opened the second half strong as a McAlister score gave Denver a 53-43 advantage with 15:33 remaining in the game. The Pioneers pushed their lead up to 12 at the 11:49 mark. Denver had a twenty-point lead twice during the half, the first coming after a three-pointer by senior guard Leslie Richardson (Aurora, Colo.) put the Pioneers up 72-52 with 10:03 left.

The second came at the 9:28 mark after two successful Denver free throws made the score 74-54. The Mean Green went on a 27-9 run over the next eight-plus minutes to cut the Pioneer lead to two with 43 seconds remaining. UNT failed to get any closer as Denver hit its free throws to seal a victory and snap a seven-game losing streak.

Senior captain B.J. Pratt (San Antonio, Texas) added 18 pointsfor Denver, which shot 22-of-57 (39 percent) from the floor. Benzel added 14 points and a team-high six assists to the cause. Starkey had 11 rebounds to go along with his career-high 29 points as he recorded his 11th double-double of the year. McAlister recorded his second career-double-double.

Chris Davis led North Texas with 26 points, Lee Green netted 18, while Jermaine Green scored 15 and Michael DeGrate chipped in 10.

Denver has a week off before the Pioneers return to action on Thursday, February 20 when they will host SBC foe and West Division rival South Alabama in Magness Arena. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. MT and can be heard live on AM 1600 or over the internet at DenverPioneers.com.