DENVER – For the first time this season, the Nos. 18 and 16 MSU Denver men's basketball team has spent a week of practice coming off a loss rather than another impressive victory.
How the Roadrunners (7-1 overall, 1-1 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) react can be measured in part by their play this weekend in a tricky road trip to Black Hills State and South Dakota Mines, for games Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 6 p.m., respectively.
Last time out, MSU Denver dropped an 85-82 decision to Colorado Mesa, which is now ranked Nos. 15 and 17.
"We watched film Monday and talked as a team about the fact that we didn't do all the things we needed to do, and Mesa did," MSU Denver coach
Dan Ficke said. "They made more winning plays down the stretch than us. It was a great lesson about how good this league is, and about how good Mesa is.
"We've got to continue to grow, and we can't assume we're where want to be. We have to continue playing like the underdog and with a chip on our shoulder. Just because we were (at the time) a higher-ranked team, we can't expect to get a call, or get a bounce. We have to make things happen, and play hard together for the full 40 minutes. They did it longer than we did, and they did it when it counted."
That said, it's good to have seen that during the opening weekend of conference play than later.
"I'd rather we lost and learned a valuable lesson in December than in February or March," Ficke said.
The Roadrunners also had a positive development last weekend with the return to action of guard
Jaden Kennis, who played in his first two games of the season. Kennis, third on the team in scoring last year at 10.0 points per game, scored nine points each night in a weekend that also included a win over Westminster, and made 6 of 12 for 50.0 percent from 3-point range.
"We got Jaden back and he's starting to get in the flow again," Ficke said. "Now we can start to establish a consistent rotation with our top eight guys in uniform and healthy, and our Nos. 9 and 10 guys are starting to show who they are, too. When you have a consistent rotation, everyone becomes more consistent, and you get get more rest for your guys, too."
With two-time RMAC Player of the Year Joel Scott having finally taken his game to Division I after leading Black Hills State to back-to-back appearances in the national tournament semifinals, there is a different look to the Yellow Jackets, who are 3-5 overall and 1-1 in the RMAC.
"It's a new team, but they have a great culture and a great program, and they're playing at home where their crowd is always really good," Ficke said. "For us it's about making sure we care of what we can take care of and playing our game. It doesn't matter that Joel Scott and some of those guys aren't there any more, they're going to give us their best shot."
Meanwhile South Dakota Mines, 4-4 and 2-0, may have lost Brevin Walter, who scored an MSU Denver opponent record 45 points in a win over the Roadrunners last season, but the Hardrockers are playing well behind reigning RMAC Offensive Player of the Week Alejandro Rama.
"They have three starters back from last year and a couple of good transfers," Ficke said. "They beat Black Hills State in a non-conference game, so they're really 3-0 against conference opponents, and they gave Wyoming a test (in a Tuesday exhibition game) in the first half, very similar to what we did. They showed us last year that you can't take them lightly.
"We can't look past Friday for Saturday, but we know we've got to handle our business better at the start of the second game of a back-to-back."
