by DENVER – Brett Olson (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) scored 17 points to lead the University of Denver men’s basketball team to a 76-69 victory over the South Dakota State Jackrabbits in their Summit League opener Friday night at Magness Arena.
The Pioneers (7-7, 1-0 Summit League) never trailed the Jackrabbits (9-6, 0-1 Summit League) en route to the league opening victory. Denver moved to .500 on the season and with the victory has won back-to-back games for the first time this season.
Marcus Byrd (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) knocked down four 3-pointers scoring 12 points and grabbing five rebounds, while Nate Engesser (Colorado Springs, Colo.) scored 13 points, tied his career-high by handing out five assists and blocked a career-high two shots.
“We played really well tonight,” head coach Joe Scott said. “What I was most happy with was that we played really well after beating a good St. Joe’s team the other night. I thought tonight we sort of played the same way for 40-minutes.”
Freshmen Christian Mackey (Navajo Nation) came off the bench and set career-highs scoring seven points, grabbing six rebounds and dishing out four assists in 22 minutes of action.
“We gotta make sure we rebound the ball and we did that early on and were able to set the tone that way,” Scott said. “I thought Mackey came through and played really well tonight.”
The Pioneers leading 47-40 in the second half went on a 10-2 run to open up a 15-point lead and the Jackrabbits despite a late run at the end were never able to get closer than four points.
Cam Griffin (San Antonio, Texas) scored eight points, grabbed eight rebounds and dished out four assists. Jalen Love (Wichita, Kan.) added 11 points. Bryant Rucker (Frisco, Texas) came off the bench and scored five points in 10 minutes.
Denver finished the game shooting 54.3 percent (25-of-46), while South Dakota State shot 45.2 percent (19-of-42). The Pioneers shot 55.0 percent from behind the 3-point line (11-of-20). The Jackrabbits shot 52.9 percent (9-of-17) from 3-point range.
The Pioneers came out scorching hot as they hit 8-of-12 from behind the arc to open a 39-28 lead at halftime. With the game tied at 18 midway through the first half as Denver closed the half on a 21-10 run.
The Crimson and Gold were led by Byrd who had nine points and three rebounds in the first half. Engesser and Love scored eight apiece and Engesser dished out 4 assists.
The Pioneers had 12 assists on 15 made first half baskets and outrebounded the Jackrabbits 15-9.
Denver shot 60.0 percent (15-of-25) from the floor while South Dakota State hit for 45.0 percent (9-of-20) in the first half. The Pioneers hit for 66.7 percent (8-of-12) from behind the arc in the first half. The Jackrabbits shot 40.0 percent (2-of-5) from behind the 3-point line.
The Jackrabbits were led by Jake Bittle who had 15 points and Cody Larson had 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Notes: With his 17 points Olson moved into 14th place on the all-time University of Denver scoring list. Olson now 1,227 points in his career. Cam Griffin with his one steal sits 10th on the Pioneer all-time steals list. Denver outrebounded SDSU 28-26 and the Pioneers had 18 assists on 25 made baskets. The Crimson and Gold moved to 7-1 in home league openers under Coach Scott.
Denver will wrap up its six-game homestand when they take on Summit League member South Dakota on Sunday, Jan. 4 at 1 p.m. MT in a game that can be heard on Mile High Sports Radio 94.1 FM.
Fans interested in purchasing tickets can do so by phone at 303-871-2336, in person at the Ritchie Center box office or through DenverPioneers.com by clicking here.
