Feb. 24, 2005

Box Score

DENVER - Sophomore forward Antonio Porch (Denver, Colo.) tallied a game-high 19 points and senior guard Erik Benzel (Spokane, Wash.) dropped in 18 to lead the University of Denver men's basketball team to a 68-46 victory over Sun Belt Conference-foe South Alabama Thursday night in Magness Arena. The win improves the Pioneers to 17-9 overall and 11-3 in the SBC. The Pioneers are a perfect 7-0 in the SBC at home. The Jaguars loss drops them to 9-17, 5-9.

"We are happy we won today, but now we have to play 40 minutes of our best basketball on Saturday," head coach Terry Carroll said. "We are looking forward to the challenge. Tonight the crowd really helped, and now we are in the position to do something really special."

Both teams had a sloppy start to the first half, with USA committing five turnovers in the first five minutes. Denver began to pull ahead, going on a 9-1 run, to put the score at 16-10, with 11:58 to play. The Jaguars tried to put pressure on the Pioneers' defense, with Daniel Northern sinking a dunk and a pair of free throws but Denver maintained its lead. Benzel made back-to-back 3-point buckets to spark the Pioneers on a 10-0 run and take a 30-16 lead with 4:18 remaining in the half. Three points from Porch and a pair of free throws from senior guard Rodney Billups (Denver, Colo.) ended the half, giving Denver a 37-22 advantage.

USA came out strong in the second half, but consecutive long-range buckets from Benzel kept the Pioneers ahead, 43-27. Two long jumpers from Porch and consecutive long range buckets from freshman guard Steve Wetrich (Ottumwa, Iowa) extended the Pioneers' lead to 24, and put the score at 55-31, with 11:35 left to play. USA's Brandon Gordon added a layup and a dunk to try and stage a comeback for the Jaguars, but another 3-pointer from Benzel and a quick layup from junior center Yemi Nicholson (Denver, Colo.) gave Denver a 63-41 lead, with 3:39 left in the game.

The Jaguars dropped in five more points in the last two minutes of the game, but free throws from Wetrich and freshman forward Joseph Jackson (Louisville, Neb.) sealed the 68-46 victory.

Porch led all scorers with 19 points. Benzel added 18, while Billups and Wetrich each added eight. Denver shot 42.3 percent (22-for-52) from the field, compared to the Jaguars' 32.1 percent (18-for-56). The Pioneers' defense also caused the Jaguars to commit 19 turnovers and forced seven blocks and nine steals. Denver has also made 50 of their last 53 free throws.

Louisiana-Lafayette's 86-80 loss at Arkansas State means that the Pioneers are in first place of the SBC West Division and control their own destiny. If Denver wins on Saturday the Pioneers win the Division.

The Pioneers play their final regular-season game of the year when they host SBC foe New Orleans on Saturday, Feb. 26 at 7 p.m.