DENVER – Sometimes when one has an older sibling who has been a star player at a particular school, the younger sibling would prefer to strike out on his own and carve out a niche at another school.
 
That's not the case for Marcus Jefferson (Lewisville, Texas/Lewisville).
 
"Ever since my brother came here, I wanted to be a Roadrunner," Jefferson said. "I wanted to try to carry on what he did. I know he did a lot, but I think I can do as much and hopefully have even more team success."
 
Brandon Jefferson was a legend at Metropolitan State University of Denver. He was the Division II National Player of the Year in the 2013-14 season and was part of three Elite Eight teams. He is third on the MSU Denver all-time scoring chart, with 1,935 career points, and he has been playing professionally overseas ever since, most recently for Orleans Loiret Basket in the French Pro A League.
 
That might be a heavy burden for some to carry, but Marcus Jefferson (Lewisville, Texas/Lewisville) shoulders it well.
 
"I think it's always a factor for him," said MSU Denver coach Michael Bahl, who starred for the Roadrunners in the same conference that his older brother, Stephen Bahl, starred in for Colorado School of Mines. "But Marcus doesn't lack confidence. He knows what kind of player he is. He isn't Brandon Jefferson, and I never bring up Brandon to him, because they are different players. Brandon does some things that Marcus doesn't do very well, and Marcus does some things that Brandon didn't do very well.
 
"I don't think it hinders him in any way. I think it motivates him."
 
Heading into Homecoming games this weekend against Black Hills State on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and against South Dakota School of Mines and Technology on Saturday at 6 p.m., Marcus, more of a pure point guard than Brandon, is fifth on the team in scoring at 5.9 points per game, and second in assists, at 2.0, despite averaging only 19.0 minutes per game. He's shooting 44.9 percent from 3-point range (22 of 49) and has made 78.8 percent of his free throws (26 of 33).
 
"Marcus is a much better passer than Brandon was," said Bahl, who was an MSU Denver assistant during Brandon's playing career. "Marcus, in my opinion, is a better defender, right now, than Brandon was. Brandon was more of a natural scorer, and we asked him to score. Marcus can score, but we're asking him to run the offense more. He's more of a true point guard, where Brandon was more of a combo guard who was probably a little better off the ball than he was on the ball."
 
Like Brandon, Marcus has already shown the propensity to come up big in clutch moments.
 
He made key free throws late in an impressive early-season win over Texas A&M-Commerce and again in a win over Colorado Mesa. He made a big 3 that cut Black Hills State's lead in half with 90 seconds left in regulation when the teams played on Feb. 8. He hit back-to-back 3s in the span of 29 seconds to get the Roadrunners within one point of UCCS with 2:38 to go in their near miraculous comeback last Friday, and he hit a 3 with 40 seconds left the following night at Colorado School of Mines to keep MSU Denver's last-gasp upset bid alive by slicing the deficit to four points.
 
"His brother was sort of the same way in terms of being able to make free throws late, to make big 3s late," Bahl said. "He's done it multiple times. When we've needed someone to make a shot, he's been able to step up and knock down that shot for us."
 
What makes Jefferson so cool when the game heats up?
 
"You've just got to trust the work that you've put in, the extra shots and extra free throws that you put up over the summer," Jefferson said. "Then when you get your opportunity, you shoot the same shot that you shot all summer and knock it down.
 
"It's the same shot, but the confidence comes from making it all summer. You don't hope that it's going in. You know it's going in."
 
Jefferson, from Lewisville, Texas, said he was able to come to a couple of games each year while his brother was at MSU Denver.
 
"I love this program," he said. "And I always wanted to come here."
 
After redshirting last year on a senior-laden team, Jefferson started this year's season opener, then began playing key minutes as a reserve, though sometimes his playing time fluctuated.
 
He returned to the starting lineup for the second half of last Friday's game at UCCS and has started the past three halves for the Roadrunners.
 
"The coaches have been telling me they need me to be more of a leader on the court, somebody to facilitate and get guys in their positions," Jefferson said. "That's what I've been trying to do lately. I've been able to succeed a little bit, and I've been getting some more minutes."
 
Last weekend he averaged 9.0 points and 4.5 assists while making 4 of 5 shots from 3-point range.
 
"One thing Marcus doesn't lack is confidence," Bahl said. "And that's what I love most about him. He's not surprised, and neither am I, at how he's playing. We saw it all last year when he was redshirting. And he's going to continue to improve."