Sun Belt Basketball Weekly Recap
Thursday, January 19
Denver 63, Louisiana-Monroe 48
Louisiana-Lafayette 68, Arkansas-Little Rock 49
Florida International 65, South Alabama 62
Middle Tennessee 59, Arkansas State 46
Florida Atlantic 88, Troy 67
Saturday, January 21
Florida Atlantic 66, Florida International 64
North Texas 75, Denver 74 (OT)
Middle Tennessee 68, South Alabama 47
Troy 91, Louisiana-Monroe 63
Western Kentucky 65, Arkansas-Little Rock 53
The Sun Belt Conference is still ruled by one team and one team only, but while the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders remain unbeaten in the league, one of the more important contests occurred in Denton, Texas.
The Denver Pioneers are the geographical outlier in the Sun Belt. While most of the league’s teams play in the Southeastern United States, encompassing Arkansas, Texas, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, and even Florida, Denver sits in the Rocky Mountains, having to make long commutes to each and every road game. The continuous battle faced by the Pioneers is the ability to win on the road with the same regularity they demonstrate at home. Denver has to play the Sun Belt Conference Tournament in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The Pioneers are simply at a competitive disadvantage in much the same way that the Hawaii Warriors are when they compete in the Western Athletic Conference. Much as Hawaii always has to travel a long way (much longer than Denver does for the Sun Belt tourney) to play its biggest basketball games of the season, Denver has to go to unfamiliar territory to punch its ticket for the NCAA Tournament. Therefore, Denver’s regular-season forays to other league arenas are chock-full of meaning in ways that don’t apply to other Sun Belt squads. When Denver went to Denton to face 4-2 North Texas this past weekend, the Pios had a chance to make a real statement.
Instead, they walked away with the heartache that has marked their existence in the Sun Belt, an existence that has failed to deliver an NCAA Tournament berth. Denver led by a 74-73 score with just seconds left in overtime, but North Texas’s Alzee Williams tipped in a Roger Franklin miss with two ticks left on the clock to claim the win for the Mean Green. Denver is still located in the upper tier of the Sun Belt with a 5-2 league record, but this loss at North Texas won’t help the Pioneers’ confidence for the road ahead. Many more mountains need to be climbed by coach Joe Scott’s team before it can claim a place of Sun Belt supremacy.
Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer
Leave your response!