Jan. 31, 2004

Box Score

DENVER - Junior guard Rodney Billups (Denver, Colo.) scored the game-winning basket with eight seconds remaining to lead the University of Denver men's basketball team to a 76-73 Sun Belt Conference win over New Orleans on Saturday, Jan. 31 in Magness Arena. Senior center Brett Starkey (Lakewood, Colo.) recorded his fifth double-double of the season and pulled down 10 rebounds to take second place on Denver's all-time career rebound list with 709. Denver improves to 12-7, 4-3, while UNO falls to 10-10, 4-3.

Bo McCalebb led the Privateers on an early 9-2 run to put the score at 14-7 with 15:46 remaining. Denver's Billups added five points and senior forward Carvell McAlister (Fresno, Calif.) hit a pair of free throws, but the Privateers sparked another impressive 10-0 run to leave the score at 36-22 with 5:45 remaining. The Pioneers intensified on offense and matched UNO with their own 10-0 run, with baskets from sophomore center Yemi Nicholson (Denver, Colo.), sophomore guard Brett Seger (Omaha, Neb.) and Billups, cutting the Privateers lead to four with 2:04 remaining. Ben Elisa and Johnell Smith each added a basket and ended the half, giving the Privateers a 41-32 advantage heading into the second half.

The Pioneers shot 40 percent (12-30) from the field and 33.3 percent (4-12) from beyond the arc, compared to the Privateers 56.3 percent (18-32) from the field and 42.9 percent (3-7) from the 3-point line. The Pioneers committed nine turnovers in the first half.

"The first 20 minutes, New Orleans was attacking on the offensive and defensive end," said head coach Terry Carroll. "This was not our basketball team. The second half we played with much more intensity and emotion. This team has more courage and guts than any group I've been with in the last 26 years."

The Privateers began the second half strong, creating their own 7-2 run to put the score at 48-34, with 16:35 remaining in the half. Denver slowly got back in the game with two 3-point baskets from senior guard Erik Benzel (Spokane, Wash.) and buckets from Starkey and senior forward Zeljko Zupic (Sinj, Croatia), to cut the Privateers lead to five. The Pioneers continued to attack after Starkey and freshman forward Antonio Porch (Denver, Colo.) made baskets to put the score at 67-62 with 5:44 remaining in the game.

A big block by Starkey and a steal from Billups left the Pioneers trailing 67-64, with 4:07 left. UNO responded with four points but Benzel, Nicholson and Starkey combined for seven points to tie the game at 71-71 with 1:43 remaining. Billups sent a blazing pass to McAlister with 1:12 remaining to give the Pioneers their first lead of the game 73-71. UNO's McCalebb tied the score with a pair of free throws, but the Pioneers were relentless. With eight seconds left in the game, Billups hit the 3-point game-winning basket to give the Pioneers a 76-73 win. The win was the Pioneers' largest come-from-behind win this season.

Billups led all scorers with 23 points. Benzel added 16 and Starkey dropped in 10. Starkey led all players with 10 rebounds and Victor Brown and Kentrell Martin pulled down eight boards a piece for the Privateers.

The Pioneers will return to action on Thursday, Feb. 5, when they travel to Las Cruces, N.M., to take on New Mexico State at 7 p.m. MT. They will continue their two-game road trip on Saturday, Feb. 7, when they face Louisiana Lafayette in Lafayette, La., at 6 p.m. MT.