Box Score BROOKINGS, S.D. - University of Denver sophomore Jalen Love (Wichita, Kan.) scored 18 points and added three steals, but the Pioneers fell 78-69 to South Dakota State at Frost Arena on Thursday night.
“I thought our guys did a good job of fighting against a good team,” head coach Joe Scott said. “We could have been better, but I thought we did a good job of executing. We need to concentrate on the things that we can control and stay with what we do. We have another big game on Saturday.”
The Jackrabbits (17-11, 9-4 Summit League) converted on 24-of-32 (75.0 percent) of their free throw attempts, while Denver went 5-of-8 in the game. DU was 46.7 percent (28-of-60) from the field and 38.1 percent (8-of-21) from three-point range, while SDSU shot 48.0 percent (24-of-50) from the floor and 35.3 percent (6-of-17) from beyond the arc.
Junior Marcus Byrd (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) and sophomore Nate Engesser (Colorado Springs, Colo.) provided a huge spark off the bench for the Pioneers (15-13, 8-5 Summit League) with 10 and nine points, respectively, as both went 4-for-7 from the field.
Junior Brett Olson (Highlands Ranch, Colo.), who scored his 1,000th point in the second half, had nine points and six rebounds, while junior Cam Griffin (San Antonio, Texas) also scored nine points.
The Jackrabbits jumped to a 41-31 lead early in the second half, but the Pioneers went on a 10-0 run to tie it with 13:19 remaining. However, SDSU capitalized on 16-of-19 free throws in the final 12 minutes to push the game out of reach.
The Pioneers were called for 26 fouls in the game, their most since committing 27 fouls against Harvard on Nov. 28, and three Denver players fouled out of the contest, the most since three Pioneers fouled out against Colorado State on Jan. 11, 2012.
After a slow start, the teams battled through the first half with five ties and three lead changes before the Jackrabbits took a 29-27 edge to the break.
South Dakota State was led by Brayden Carlson’s 22 points, while Jordan Dykstra added 19 points and eight rebounds.
Denver concludes the regular season at North Dakota State on Saturday at 6 p.m. MT. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3, via WatchESPN and the Full Court Package, and it will air live on Mile High Sports Radio AM 1510 and 93.7 FM.
Visit DenverPioneers.com for complete coverage of all 17 of DU's NCAA Division I sports.
— www.DenverPioneers.com —
Like Denver Pioneers and Denver Men's Basketball on Facebook
Follow @DU_Pioneers and @DU_MHoops on Twitter
