Jan. 16, 2006

Box Score

DENTON, Texas - Senior center Yemi Nicholson (Aurora, Colo.) recorded his 10th double-double with 28 points and 16 rebounds and the Denver Pioneers rallied from nine points down, but could not come all the way back as they dropped a 72-70 decision at North Texas tonight in Sun Belt Conference play. The loss ends the Pioneers' five-game winning streak and drops their record to 10-7 overall and 3-1 in the SBC. The Mean Green improve to 10-5, 3-1.

Junior forward DaShawn Walker (Chicago, Ill.) added 17 points and sophomore guard Steve Wetrich (Ottumwa, Iowa) had 12 for Denver. Isaac Hines led the Mean Green with 16 points and Kendrick Davis added 15.

"We had difficulty tonight taking care of the basketball and that led to a lot of North Texas' opportunities," said head coach Terry Carroll. "We need to try and get over this quickly and more forward. We obviously have a big week ahead of us."

The Pioneers remained ahead 44-38 despite three turnovers in the second half's first four minutes. The Mean Green made three 3-pointers and went on a 13-4 run over the next five minutes to take the lead at 51-48 with 10:33 remaining in the game. A layup by Hines at the 7:50 mark extended UNT's lead to 58-50. DU finally woke up and cut the margin to four at 64-60 with just 3:49 left in the contest. The Pioneers were within two with the ball with just 15 seconds remaining but Walker's shot fell off the rim at the buzzer.

Nicholson had 14 second-half points and Hines had 11 for the Mean Green. The Pioneers were 4-of-8 (.500) from behind the 3-point line in the second stanza.

Denver was very fluid on offense opening a 13-5 lead off an Antonio Porch (Denver, Colo.) layup at the 15:12 mark of the first half. North Texas was able to speed up the game and make the score 19-16, DU, on a layup by Lionel Brown with 10:44 remaining. The pace remained hot but the teams only managed to exchange baskets over the next three minutes to make the score 24-20. DU's lead grew as big as eight but things got sloppy and a jumper by Davis put the score at 35-29 at the 2:14 mark. Denver closed the half with four consecutive points and remained in front, 40-34

Nicholson led DU with 14 first-half points. Walker added 11 for the Pioneers. Davis had 10 for the Mean Green.

The Pioneers play the second game of their three-game Sun Belt Conference road trip at Arkansas State on Thurs., Jan. 19 at 7 p.m. MT. That game can be seen live on ESPN+Plus and heard live on KCKK AM 1600 and DenverPioneers.com. The game will also be telecast locally at midnight on Altitude.