The starting lineup included three freshmen - C.J. Bobbitt, Joe Rosga, & Thomas Neff paired with upper class teammates Bryant Rucker & Marcus Byrd. A total of eleven players hit the hardwood for DU and all scored points, led by freshman C.J. Bobbitt with 10 points. Milwaukee starters scored 63 of their total 71 points. DU, playing nearly everyone, got 36 points from starters and 22 points from the bench.
When looking at the numbers, the undoing of the Pioneers was in two areas: DU was out-rebounded 19-31 and was called for 8 more fouls (23-15) than their opponents. This is not a surprise because young teams have the most trouble adapting to the speed and effort needed on the defensive end.
DU shooting percentage (52.4%) and 3-point percentage (41.2%) were excellent. Turnovers were even (15-14). DU scored more points in the paint than Milwaukee (26-16). Milwaukee's Austin Arians was hitting three point bombs in the first half to stay even with the Pioneer hot over-all shooting. Late in the second half, a battle for a 50/50 ball led to a technical foul on the Pioneers and the downward slide began.
Plus: Freshmen Bobbitt, Rosga, & Neff got solid minutes (16, 36, & 32 respectively) and scored a combined 26 points. This looks like a promising freshmen class.
Biggest area for improvement: Daniel Amigo, Christian Mackey, & Marcus Byrd need to crash the boards - a 12 rebound differential is almost impossible to overcome.
Surprise: Nate Engesser only played 12 minutes and scored 2 points.
In the other game, Santa Clara was upset by Lipscom 65-63 in a double-overtime thriller. DU plays Santa Clara tonight at 7:00 PM MT.
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And the Pioneers thumped Santa Clara in Game 2, 55-33.
Pios were not fantastic, but Santa Clara was dreadful, shooting 22%.
Nice to see DU out-rebound a WCC team on the road.
Engesser had 18 points with all of them on 3 balls (6).
Good to hear Pio fans making some noise there - DU had some SF alums in attendance.
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