DENVER – MSU Denver is ready to hit the reset button.
After opening the men's basketball season with two losses against Lone Star Conference teams, the Roadrunners have had eight days to prepare for Wednesday's 7 p.m. home opener at the Auraria Event Center against NAIA foe Northern New Mexico.
"Disappointment isn't too far off," Metropolitan State University of Denver coach
Michael Bahl said of how his team is feeling. "But I also think there's a ton of excitement. Guys want to get back at it. It feels like it's been a month since we played a game. Guys are hungry to get back on the floor, hungry to compete again and ready to get back on the right track.
"And for our seniors, this is the first last home game of the year."
The Roadrunners, who gave up an average of 71.8 points per game last season, gave up an average 84 points in losses of 85-71 to nationally-ranked Tarleton State (Texas) and 83-66 to host Arkansas-Fort Smith, which has opened the season 3-0.
So, you can guess where the emphasis has been in practice ever since.
"Sometimes you take things for granted," Bahl said. "We were a pretty good defensive team last year, so a lot of our (pre-season) emphasis was towards the offensive end. We wound up putting too much pressure on our offense and we wound up chasing points instead of having our defense create our offense.
"We're a much better team off a missed basket than we are off a made basket."
MSU Denver is hoping to force plenty of missed shots against a Northern New Mexico team that is only 1-9, but has also played five NCAA Division II teams.
The Eagles' win came against Division II Western New Mexico, and they also played Adams State within three points.
Last year, Northern New Mexico picked up wins over Fort Lewis and Western Colorado of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference as well as Western New Mexico.
"They're dangerous," Bahl said. "They're used to playing Division II teams. They play pretty much an RMAC schedule in the preseason. They can score, and they can throw different things at you defensively. So we'll have to be on our toes, because we're definitely going to be tested."
In its opening weekend, MSU Denver shot just 36.7 percent from the field.
Druce Asah scored 26 points in two games, while
Maris Colton and
Kendall McIntosh each scored 20. McIntosh pulled down 13 rebounds, while
Mitch Lombard had 11 assists.
Still, the offense isn't the main focus.
"We learned our lesson early in the season, and that's a positive," Bahl said. "That's why we play those types of teams early in the season, on the road, just to see where we are. We had a really good week of practice. And we've made some changes to how we want to do things defensively, and hopefully that makes a difference and we'll play better."
