DENVER – UCCS outscored MSU Denver 10-1 in the final 2:07 Friday night, rallying from a five-point deficit to hand the Roadrunners a disappointing 72-68 defeat.
 
"It's 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you respond," MSU Denver coach Dan Ficke said. "In this league, there's no time to dwell on it and feel bad for ourselves because we've got another team playing well coming in here tomorrow night and we've got to be ready to go."
 
The Roadrunners play host to Regis at 6 p.m. Saturday in a game that will be televised by Local 3.
 
A fastbreak basket by Marzouq Ibn Abdur-Razaaq gave MSU Denver a 67-62 lead with 2:20 left, but UCCS quickly responded with a 3-pointer by Xavier Martinez and – after a Roadrunners turnover – tied the game on two free throws by Hannes Saar with 1:37 left.
 
Abdur-Razaaq made 1 of 2 free throws with 1:19 to go, and then Saar set up Jayden Washington for a dunk that gave the Mountain Lions a 69-68 advantage.
 
MSU Denver had two shots on its next possession but couldn't convert.
 
Then Martinez, dribbling the ball out front, stepped on the foot of MSU Denver's Quave Propst-Allison and went down, with Propst-Allison being called for a foul with 24.8 seconds left.
 
"We had enough time to play it out, get a stop, and then come back down and score," Ficke said.
 
Martinez made both free throws to make it 70-68, and then another Roadrunners turnover gave UCCS the ball back with 13.5 to play.
 
The Roadrunners applied full-court pressure and came close to steals a couple of times in a wild scramble, but then UCCS was able to escape and wound up with a dunk for a four-point lead with 1.1 left.
 
The Mountain Lions were called for a technical foul when a bench player stepped onto the court after the dunk, giving MSU Denver a long-shot chance to tie it if it could make the technical free throw and then a last-gasp 3-pointer, but the technical try by a limping Brayden Maldonado was off target. Maldonado was slowed after landing on the foot of a UCCS player on a 3-pointer early in the game (no was foul called).
 
Caleb McGill (16 points, career-high 14 rebounds) and Mario Lacy, Jr. (12 points, 10 rebounds) each recorded double-doubles – the first time the Roadrunners had two players with double-doubles in the same game since March 2, 2013, against UCCS, when legends Jonathan Morse (29 points, 11 rebounds) and Nick Kay (17 points, 12 rebounds) were at work.
 
"You kind of expected it to be a war of attrition, especially down low," McGill said. "I was just trying to be physical and to give great effort on the glass. I felt good about what we could do inside, and our rebounding numbers showed that. It was a matter of finishing some bunnies inside – both of us were out last week. I'm proud of the effort we gave."
 
MSU Denver, which led for 76.3 percent of the game, built an 11-point lead early in the second half, but UCCS responded.
 
While the Roadrunners shot 50 percent from the field in the first half and 34.6 percent in the second half, UCCS did the exact opposite – 34.6 percent in the first half and 50 percent in the final 20 minutes.
 
"We just didn't execute in the second half, offensively or defensively," Ficke said. "As coaches we need to put them in better positions, be better coming out of timeouts – I don't think we executed once, and that's on us for what we tried to do.
 
"Regis is going to do exactly what Regis did in the second half – space us and drive us. We've got to guard the ball without fouling, and then complete plays and make free throws on the other end."
 
MSU Denver had a 43-27 rebounding advantage, including 15-8 on the offensive glass, but that dominance was offset by a minus-9 turnover margin (19-10) and 59.3 percent free throw shooting (16 of 27).
 
"We gave great effort," McGill said. "It's just mental toughness and focusing, things we can improve upon and things we can control. I'm confident about this team and we'll bounce back from this."
 
MSU Denver dropped to 10-5 overall and 4-5 in the RMAC.
 
"Everything we want is still in front of us," Ficke said. "We've got 13 games left. We're in the playoff mix. And I still think we're as good as anyone in this league, we just have to get to the place where the (Colorado) Mesas, the (Colorado School of) Mines' and the Fort Lewis' are, where they win these types of games."
 
Regis, which lost Friday to Colorado School of Mines, is 8-8 and 5-5.
 
"That's a beautiful thing about the RMAC," McGill said. "You go back-to-back. You can think about it tonight, but tomorrow we have to forget about this one and lock in to what we have to do. Regis is good, and we're looking forward to playing them."
 
Said Ficke: "It's like the Big 12. Every team is good, and you've got to be ready to go every night. If you make mistakes, they're going to capitalize."