Box Score DENVER - The University of Denver men's basketball team shattered a team record with 22 steals, including a DU Division-I record eight by senior guard Chase Hallam (Mesquite, Texas), as the Pioneers cruised to a 72-55 victory over Seattle at Magness Arena on Thursday night.
Junior forward Chris Udofia (Irving, Texas) led the Pioneers (14-8, 10-2 WAC) with 23 points on 10-for-14 shooting and hit a career best three three-pointers. Freshman Jalen Love (Wichita, Kan.) chipped in with 11 points, and Hallam added 10 points in 27 minutes of action. Sophomore guard Cam Griffin (San Antonio, Texas) came off the bench with nine points, five assists and four steals.
"Our defense was good, and we were turning them over. We were getting easy baskets out of that," head coach Joe Scott said. "We were not playing well offensively. We weren't that crisp. When we weren't turning them over, they were able to slow things down. It's good to see Chris play well. I think he is a good shooter and his shooting can be beneficial to us. It is good for him to find out when is it right to shoot, pass or drive in the offense...Our guys were ready to defend the post in a team concept and it showed with the number of steals."
Denver shot 50.0 percent (27-of-54) from the field and 76.5 percent (13-of-17) from the free throw line, while dishing out 20 assists.
The Redhawks (7-15, 2-10 WAC) shot 20-for-36 (55.6 percent) from the floor. Seattle, which entered the game ranked 340-out-of-345 in Division-I in free-throw percentage, made 85.7 percent (12-of-14) from the line.
DU jumped out to a 22-6 lead 8:39 into the first half. Seattle managed to get back into the game with a 13-2 run that cut the Pioneers lead to 24-19 before Udofia scored six-straight points and redshirt freshman Marcus Byrd (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) hit a buzzer beating tip to give Denver a 34-23 halftime lead.
The Pioneers opened the second half on a 13-4 run and stretched the lead to as many as 22 points with 5:56 remaining. The Redhawks closed the gap to within 13 with 1:56 left in the game, but the Pioneers iced it with seven points in the final 99 seconds.
The Crimson and Gold forced 26 Seattle turnovers and outscored SU 31-12 in points off of turnovers.
Denver hosts Idaho on Saturday afternoon at Magness Arena at 4 p.m. MT. The game will be televised on ROOT Sports.
Notes: Denver's 22 steals shattered the team's previous record of 18, set against Rockmont on Feb. 10, 1982...The Pioneers had not recorded more than 10 steals in a half since returning to NCAA Division-I in 1999 before tallying 11 in each half tonight...Chase Hallam's eight steals were the most in Denver's NCAA Division-I history and broke the Magness Arena record. It tied DU's overall record, matching Andre Guzman (vs. Wayne State, Nov. 27, 1993), Tim Ray (vs. Fort Lewis, Feb. 4, 1991) and Joe Fisher (vs. Dordt, Jan. 3, 1987)...Hallam's eight steals and Denver's 22 were both the highest marks by a WAC team this season...Seattle's 26 turnovers were the most by a Denver opponent since DU returned to NCAA Division I.
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