Pioneers Eliminated After 72-68 Upset By Texas State

Box Score

LAS VEGAS - University of Denver men's basketball sophomore Brett Olson (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) scored 19 points, but the Pioneers fell in a 72-68 upset by Texas State in the quarterfinals of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament at the Orleans Arena on Thursday afternoon.

The loss eliminates Denver (21-9) from the tournament, while Texas State (11-21) will take on New Mexico State in the semifinals tomorrow.

Freshman Jalen Love (Wichita, Kansas) scored 17 points, while junior Chris Udofia (Irving, Texas) finished with 12 points and three steals. Sophomore Royce O'Neale (Killeen, Texas) scored eight points to go along with eight rebounds, and senior Chase Hallam (Mesquite, Texas) also tallied eight points and a pair of steals.

The Bobcats shot 65.7 percent (23-of-35) in the contest, while Denver hit on 40.4 percent (21-of-52) of its shots from the floor and 35.7 percent (10-of-28) from three-point range.

"I think that after winning the WAC (regular season title) and going 16-2 in conference, it would be nice if this one loss doesn't define us," head coach Joe Scott said. "It definitely hurts, but we have to learn from this and grow from it, and to have our program continue to get better."

Joel Wright recorded a game-high 32 points on 9-of-10 shooting from the floor and 14-of-16 shooting from the free-throw line, while Phil Hawkins added 13. Wright also finished with seven rebounds.

The Pioneers failed to hit on their first eight field goal attempts, as the Bobcats jumped to a 10-0 lead to start the game. Denver missed its first nine three-point shots of the game, but the Pioneers used a 7-0 run to tie the game at 26 with four minutes left in the first half. The Bobcats responded, however, to take a 37-32 lead into the intermission.

O'Neale tallied eight points and seven rebounds in the first half, while Udofia matched him with eight points. Wright topped all scorers with 16 points on 5-of-6 shooting. Texas State shot 65.0 percent (13-of-20) in the opening frame, while DU shot 37.5 percent (9-of-24).

Wright scored the first six points of the second half, extending a Texas State run that began with 1:04 remaining in the first half to 11-0 and giving the Bobcats a 43-32 edge early in the second stanza. Six unanswered Pioneer points cut the deficit to three at 60-57 with 2:22 left, but the Bobcats held on for the four-point victory.

The Pioneers will now await the NCAA Selection show at 4 p.m. MT on Sunday, followed by the NIT Selection Show at 7 p.m. MT.

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