DENVER - University of Denver men's basketball senior guard Kyle Lewis (Denver, Colo.) had a season high 13 points and freshman forward Chris Udofia (Irving, Texas) added 10, but it was not enough as the Pioneers fell 61-53 to three-time defending WAC champion Utah State at Magness Arena on Wednesday night.

"We are in a rut right now, where we cannot get more than one or two guys into double figures," head coach Joe Scott said. "There were chances out there for guys to make big shots, but we are just not taking advantage."

The Pioneers (1-6) opened up the game with a 2-0 lead, but Pooh Williams answered with a three-pointer for Utah State (5-1) and DU trailed the rest of the half. The Aggies led 28-22 going into intermission, but DU was able to keep the game close by shooting 6-of-12 from beyond the arc. The Pioneer bench accounted for 15 first half points with nine coming from Lewis' trio of three-pointers.

A three-pointer from Udofia, who entered the game with no career three-pointers, with 14:10 remaining gave DU its second lead, and junior guard Travis Hallam (Mesquite, Texas) broke a 40-40 tie with a three-pointer with 12:22 left in the game to give the Pioneers their biggest lead.

Denver made just one field goal, Udofia's third three-pointer of the game, as the Aggies finished the game on a 21-10 run.

"Making tough shots at the end of the game is something we have to work on," added Scott. "We had a lot of chances in this one."

The Pioneers finished 11-of-22 (50.0 percent) on three-pointers, but were 5-of-21 (23.8 percent) from inside the arc. Utah State made up for 15 turnovers by shooting 54.5 percent (18-for-33), the team's first game over 50 percent this season.

The Aggies were led by Brian Green's 14 points, and 13 points each from Brockeith Pane and Brady Jardine. Pane led Utah State with nine rebounds.

Denver continues its short homestand by hosting Cal State-Northridge at Magness Arena on Saturday, Dec. 4 at 4:30 p.m. MT. The game will be broadcast live on FSN Rocky Mountain, as well as AM 1510 and FM 93.7.