The Denver Pioneers men’s basketball team entered Wednesday night’s tilt with the 2015 Mountain West Tournament Champion Wyoming Cowboys on a five-game winning streak. They’ll be looking to start a new winning streak on Saturday against another Front Range opponent, Air Force.
The Pioneers (5-2) hadn’t suffered a loss since their opener against UW-Milwaukee on Nov. 13, stringing together five consecutive victories before Wyoming (5-2) put an end to an impressive streak for Joe Scott’s young squad. Senior guard Bryant Rucker led the Pioneers with 17 points in the 68-52 decision at Magness Arena.
Denver led 48-47 at one point, but Wyoming dominated late, going on a 21-4 run to close out the game. To have a lead at any point was impressive for the Pioneers, who started the game one-for-10 from the field and did not score until five minutes into the game.
“We didn’t shoot the ball well all game,” head coach Joe Scott told DenverPioneers.com postgame. “The ball rolled around and out. It didn’t matter if it was a layup. It didn’t matter if it was a post move. It didn’t matter if it was a three-point shot. We had a lot of balls around and out, but again, I thought we did a good job and that’s what our young team has got to learn.”
Denver will hope more of those shots find their way through the hoop on Saturday against Scott’s old team, the Air Force Falcons.
Scott coached Air Force from 2000-01 to 2003-04. In his final year at the Academy, Scott led the Falcons to the school’s first NCAA Tournament berth since 1962.
Denver will need to slow down a Falcons offense that scored a season-high 97 points in a home win against the Citadel on Wednesday. Five different Air Force players scored in double digits, including Trevor Lyons and Hayden Graham who had 22 and 20, respectively.
The Pioneers were somewhat successful in slowing Wyoming’s top scorer, Josh Adams
The Falcons will also bring a 5-2 record to Magness Arena when they travel up I-25 to face the Pioneers. Air Force lost to another Front Range rival one week ago when they fell to Colorado the day before Thanksgiving.
Denver is 25-23 all-time against Air Force, although the two teams have not met since 2001 (when Scott was at Air Force). That year the two teams split a home-and-home series, with both teams winning on home-court.
The weekend will be capped by another Front Range showdown Sunday, when Colorado and Colorado State square off in Fort Collins.
Image Credit: Keyser Images
