DENTON, Texas The University of Denver men’s basketball team built a 21-points lead in the first half, but Mean Green came back in the second half to beat the Pioneers 69-62 at the Super Pit on Thursday night.

 

Freshman guard Brian Stafford (Walnut Creek, Calif.) and junior forward Nate Rohnert (Parker, Colo.) led the way for the Pioneers (7-10, 2-4 SBC) with a game-high 15 points each. North Texas (10-7, 3-3 SBC) was led by Collin Dennis’ 14 points.

 

“For the third-straight road game, we gave ourselves the opportunity to win, but we just have not gotten over that hurdle,” head coach Joe Scott said. “I am happy with our consistency, but we need our players to be unhappy about the end results and do something to change them. Like always, the home team did not go away, so you have to give credit to North Texas for fighting back in the second half.”

 

North Texas outscored Denver 47-23 in the second half, even though DU shot 57.9 percent (22-of-38) in the game, compared to only 42.6 percent (20-of-47) by the Mean Green.

 

Trailing by 17 points after the first half, the Mean Green’s Tristan Thompson scored the first five points of the second half before a Rob Lewis layup gave DU its first field goal since the 4:21 mark in the first half.

 

In the first eight minutes of the second half, North Texas outscored Denver 21-7, cutting the lead to three points at 46-43 with 11:57 remaining.

 

A pair of DU layups built the lead back to seven, but a 13-0 North Texas run put the Mean Green in the lead.

 

A runner by Stafford with 1:18 remaining cut the deficit back to four points, but the Mean Green got it back with a three-point play by Adam McCoy with 48 seconds left, sealing the game for North Texas.

 

Stafford opened the game with a pair of layups and redshirt freshman forward Andrew Hooper (Lakewood, Colo.) drilled three three-pointers, as the Pioneers built a 21-point lead with 3:56 remaining in the first half. However, North Texas cut down the lead with a 6-2 run to head into the break.

 

The Pioneers dominated the first half, shooting 61.9 percent (13-of-21) from the field while holding the Mean Green to just 32.0 percent (8-of-25), as DU headed to halftime with a 39-22 lead.

 

The 21-point comeback tied the largest in North Texas history and extended DU’s road losing streak to 39 games.

 

Denver concludes its road trip in Miami with a game against Florida International on Sat., Jan. 17 at 5:30 p.m. MT.