Jan. 3, 2005
LARAMIE, Wyo. -
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THE GAME - The Pioneers (5-5) play their fourth of five consecutive road games when they travel to Laramie, Wyo. to face regional-rival Wyoming on Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2005 at 7 p.m. Denver has dropped its last two contests, at Cal State Fullerton (102-92) and at instate-rival Colorado State (81-69) last Thursday. The Wyoming Cowboys (6-5) are also riding a two-game losing streak, falling to San Diego (95-88) and at Southern Illinois (81-69) last Thursday. The game can be heard live on KKFN AM 950 "The Fan" and DenverPioneers.com. Mitch Hyder (play-by-play) and former Denver assistant coach Greg Lackey (color) will call the game with the pregame show beginning at 6 p.m. Live stats will also be available on DenverPioneers.com.
SERIES HISTORY & NOTES - This will be the 138th meeting between the two schools, with Wyoming leading the series, 95-47. The two teams first met in 1920 and continued to battle last season as the Pioneers took a 63-62 decision in Denver. The only team Denver has played more than Wyoming is Colorado State.
ROAD TRIP - The Pioneers continue their five-game road swing this week. Denver already played at Eastern Washington, at Cal State Fullerton and at Colorado State, but still has to travel to Wyoming and Louisiana-Lafayette before they return home on Jan. 13. It is Denver's longest road swing since the 1998-99 season, its first Division I campaign.
FRONT PORCH - Sophomore Forward Antonio Porch was named the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week (Dec. 28). Porch scored a career-high 30 points on 9-of-13 shooting at Cal State Fullerton on Dec. 23. Porch had 20 points in the second half.
AWARDS - Senior guard Erik Benzel was named the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week (Dec. 7). Benzel averaged 18.5 points, four rebounds, three steals and two assists in Denver's two games. The senior had 10 3-pointers on the week and became just the 26th Pioneer to tally 1,000 career points in Denver's 79-57 win over Cal State Fullerton on Dec. 4. The senior was also named to the 2004-05 preseason All-Sun Belt Conference Second Team after his solid efforts during the 2003-04 season. The Pioneers were picked to finish sixth in the West Division.
SCOUTING THE PIONEERS - Denver (5-5) has dropped its last two contests, at Cal State Fullerton (102-92) and at instate-rival Colorado State (81-69) last Thursday. The Pioneers are 4-1 at home and 1-4 on the road. Benzel is leading the way with 15.1 points and 2.8 assists per game. Junior center Yemi Nicholson has added 14.9 points and a team-high 6.9 rebounds per game. Porch has contributed 11.7 points and 6.0 rebounds per game, while senior point guard Rodney Billups has contributed 10.1 points and a team-best 5.7 assists per game. Junior transfer Andrew Carpenter is averaging 9.3 points and 5.2 rebounds per outing.
