Feb. 12, 2005

Box Score

DENVER - Junior center Yemi Nicholson (Denver, Colo.) tallied his fifth double-double in seven games and sophomore forward Antonio Porch (Denver, Colo.) scored 27 points to lead the University of Denver men's basketball team to an 83-71 victory over Middle Tennessee State Saturday afternoon in Hamilton Gymnasium. The win keeps the Pioneers atop the Sun Belt Standings, and improves their record to 15-8 overall and 9-2 in the SBC. The Blue Raiders fall to 15-10, 5-6 SBC.

"I was really proud of the way our team played in the last 10 minutes of the game," said head coach Terry Carroll. "Antonio (Porch) was really our leader. He played hard and smart, something we needed desperately. The key to this game was our defense that picked up in the last 10 minutes of the game."

Denver jumped out to a 9-4 lead, led by Nicholson's four points. The teams then traded basket-for-basket for the next two minutes, creating four lead changes, before Porch opened a gap by sinking two layups. Denver led for the rest of the half, putting the score at 18-12, with 13:36 left to play. The Pioneers' senior guard Rodney Billups (Denver, Colo.) nailed a long-range bucket and driving layup to keep Denver's lead at 28-24, with 8:12 to play.

A huge dunk by Nicholson off a feed from Billups gave the Pioneers momentum, as a 3-pointer from Porch and another layup from Billups extended Denver's lead to six. Middle Tennessee's Michael Cuffee tried to stage a comeback for the Blue Raiders by adding 10 points in the last five minutes of the half, but Denver held on for a 42-41 advantage at the end of the stanza.

Billups, Nicholson and Porch combined for 39 points in the first half. Denver shot 50 percent (16-32) from the field, compared to the Blue Raiders' 60 percent (18-30).

There were six lead changes in the first three minutes of the second half, but Denver came out on top, taking a 53-49 lead, with 15:59 left to play. The Blue Raiders' Marcus Morrison challenged Denver's lead, scoring nine points in just over three minutes to give Middle Tennessee a brief 61-60 lead, with 10:35 remaining in the game. Denver quickly regained the lead with short jump shot from Nicholson.

Denver then exploded on offensive, with Porch sinking two baskets to spark an 11-0 run. Two big dunks from Nicholson extended Denver's lead to 74-63, with 5:28 left to play. Denver's defense tightened up, holding Middle Tennessee to only two baskets in the next four minutes of the game. Porch and Billups combined for seven points to put the score at 81-65, with 2:35 remaining. The Blue Raiders' Morrison and Mike Dean each made a basket from beyond the arc, but Carpenter retaliated with two free throws to clinch the 83-71 victory.

Nicholson's double-double marked his fifth in seven games. Porch led all scorers with 27 points, going 8-for-14 from the field, including 2-for-2 from beyond the arc and 9-for-9 from the charity stripe. Nicholson dropped in 23 points of his own and Billups added 18. Nicholson also pulled down 11 boards. Denver outrebounded the Blue Raiders 38-31, and outshot them 52.5 percent (31-59) to 44.1 percent (30-68). Denver also tallied 24 assists, while committing five blocks and five steals.

The Pioneers begin a two-game road trip when they travel to Denton, Texas, to face North Texas on Thursday, Feb. 17 at 6:30 p.m. Denver will then head to Las Cruces, N.M., to face New Mexico State at 7:30 p.m. MT.