DENVER – The long and winding road begins this weekend for the MSU Denver men's basketball team.
Though Saturday night's game at Chadron State has been postponed due to COVID-19 concerns, the Roadrunners are set to play Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Black Hills State.
It's the first of seven straight – or possibly eight, depending on when the Chadron State game is rescheduled – road games.
"We've got the next seven or eight on the road, so we've got a good challenge ahead of us," MSU Denver coach
Michael Bahl said. "But it's more about us. With the environments the way they are on the road now (with few, if any, fans in attendance), it might be good for us to get away by ourselves as a team. Guys can really come together on the road, so we look at it as a positive."
MSU Denver is 4-6 overall and 4-5 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, and is two close losses away from being 6-3 in league play.
Though in seventh place in the league, the Roadrunners are only 1 ½ games behind third-place South Dakota Mines (6-4), a team MSU Denver beat handily in December.
Black Hills State is 3-4, both overall and in the RMAC.
"Everyone plays better at home, and the RMAC is pretty competitive right now, especially after the first two," Bahl said, referring to Colorado School of Mines and Colorado Mesa, both of whom are undefeated and ranked in the top 10 nationally (Mines is No. 1 and No. 3 in the polls).
"On any given night, anyone can win. That's good for the league, and it's obviously a challenge for all of us."
Meanwhile,
Laolu Oke's incredible season continues as he has established himself as a candidate for RMAC Defensive Player of the Year.
Oke leads NCAA Division II in offensive rebounds per game (5.6), ranks second in total rebounds (116), is fifth in rebound average (11.6) and sixth with four double-doubles. In addition to leading the RMAC in all those categories, he's also fourth in defensive rebounds per game (6.0), fourth in steals (15) and 12
th in blocked shots (seven).
Oke has already been RMAC Defensive Player of the Week three times this season.
"He's always been a phenomenal rebounder," Bahl said. "He led us last year in rebounds per minutes played. Sometimes that doesn't carry over when you get more minutes. But the more he plays, the more rebounds he gets (per minute), and that's highly unusual."
Oke, who didn't begin to focus on basketball much until high school, continues to evolve as a player. He's fourth on the team among active players in scoring (9.1 points per game) and is shooting 60.8 percent from the field and 76.3 percent from the free throw line.
"He's in a different role than he's ever had," Bahl said. "We're counting on him to perform. He can't really have an off night for us. We need his energy and his effort."
