2008 Woodie Awards
Bears face Pioneers in home opener
Jordan Freemyer
Issue date: 11/16/07 Section: Sports
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The Pioneers are 2-1 on the season with wins against East Central (Okla.) and Wyoming.
"We expect to compete with an in-state rival and come out with a win," sophomore guard Will Figures said.
Denver is led in scoring by freshman guard Kyle Lewis, who has scored 13 points per game. The Bears are led in scoring by senior guard Sean Taibi, who has scored 14.3 points on average in the Bears' first three games. Both Taibi and Figures, who is scoring 13.7 points per game, made the all-tournament team at the Air Force Classic.
Inside, the Pioneers are led by senior David Krummer, who is averaging 12 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. Krummer and the Pioneers will have to deal with the Bears' inside duo of junior forward Jabril Banks and senior center Kirk Archibeque, who combined to average 17 points and 11 rebounds per game.
The Pioneers will use an offense similar to that of Air Force, whom the Bears faced on Nov. 10. They are coached by former Air Force head coach Joe Scott.
"Denver's going to be a lot like Air Force, they run the Princeton style (offense) and the matchup zone," Bears coach Tad Boyle said.
The Bears, who are coming off two narrow losses against teams from the Mountain West Conference and the Big Ten Conference, and are looking forward to coming back home.
"Hopefully the campus gets as fired up as we are," Taibi said.
Boyle said a home court advantage, which the Bears will have on Saturday, can be the difference between winning and losing in college basketball.
"What the fans need to understand is that they can affect our season and the outcome of our games," Boyle said.
Boyle also said the Bears will put a product on the floor that is worth watching.
"Our team will be more fun to watch than last year," Boyle said.
The Bears and Pioneers will tip off at 7:05 p.m. on Saturday at Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion.
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