Photo: DU freshman Jake Krafka plays defense in his first collegiate start – a 57-55 win.
In a tight contest, Denver (3-4) won on the road against Weber State (2-5) and escaped with a 57-55 victory in Ogden, Utah in front of 6,167 spectators. The three keys prior to the game, cited by head coach Rodney Billups, were to limit Weber State’s rebounds, limit 3-point shooting success, and limit turnovers. The Pioneers achieved two out of three by out-rebounding Weber State 38-30 and holding the Wildcats to 6 of 28 from the arc (21.4%). Still, the Pioneers had to overcome 17 turnovers to Weber State’s 9 which kept the game closer than it needed to be in the end. The Pioneers shot 48.1% for the game and held Weber State to a poor 30.2%
Denver played a total of 11 players in the first half with Joe Rosga, Jake Pemberton, Daniel Amigo, and C .J. Bobbitt getting the bulk of minutes in the opening frame. In the first 7 minutes, cold shooting Denver fell 10 points behind the Wildcats which was to be DU’s biggest deficit of the game. But in a mere 2 minutes, Denver stormed back to knot the game @ 13:09. A Jake Pemberton bucket and three-point shot along with two buckets from C.J. Bobbitt along with a layup from Christian Mackey @ 10:58 cut the margin to 1. The teams exchanged leads with no lead greater than 3 the remainder of the half. A three-point shot by Jake Pemberton tied the game with 42 seconds remaining in the first half and that is how it ended – 35-35.
The second half was more of the same with the greatest margin held by the Wildcats of 5 points and a lead of 4 points by the Pioneers. The two evenly matched teams spent most of their time within 2 points of each other and the teams were tied, 55-55, with 2:12 remaining. The teams traded a turnover and a ton of missed shots (6), highlighted by a missed layup by the Wildcats Kyndahl Hill,leaving the Pioneers in possession with 33 seconds remaining in the game. This set up a clutch jumper from Joe Rosga that gave DU a 57-55 lead with 8 seconds to go. Weber State’s Jeremy Senglin tried a three point shot for the win and missed – the Pioneers held on for the win.
https://twitter.com/DU_MHoops/status/805284412665511937
C.J. Bobbitt led the Pioneers with 17 points on 80% field goal shooting followed by Daniel Amigo with 12 points and Jake Pemberton with 10. Off the bench, Bobbitt also pulled down a team-leading 12 rebounds to make it a double-double. The win pulls Denver to 2-2 on the road and 3-4 overall. Denver continues to play with a razor thin margin but they found a way to earn the win.
After the game, Billups said, “We have a locker room full of fighters. I loved our effort (on defense). There is so much room for us to get better. This is a huge win for us.”
We will be releasing our LetsGoDU first quarter report card for Denver Hoops Monday.
Didn’t see the game myself, but in reading the box score, this was a big road win for the Pios in front of 6,000+ fans in Ogden, Utah. Once again, DU shot the ball very well (48%) and won the rebound battle (38-30). They obviously played good defense to hold Weber State to just 30% shooting, which is awesome. Yet, I also noticed the same problems that have been hurting them all season have not yet gone away. The 17 DU turnovers committed were above their season average and the Pios only went to the free throw line for four foul shots all night (made 2), compared with 20 foul shots for Weber (made 17). At least they won the game…
Saw some of game on Big Sky free stream. Rogna pushed off with his left to free himself for game winning 10 ft jumper. Refs thought defender embellished fall and made no call
It was nice seeing Amigo on floor in final minutes
Didn’t see the game myself, but in reading the box score, this was a big road win for the Pios in front of 6,000+ fans in Ogden, Utah. Once again, DU shot the ball very well (48%) and won the rebound battle (38-30). They obviously played good defense to hold Weber State to just 30% shooting, which is awesome. Yet, I also noticed the same problems that have been hurting them all season have not yet gone away. The 17 DU turnovers committed were above their season average and the Pios only went to the free throw line for four foul shots all night (made 2), compared with 20 foul shots for Weber (made 17). At least they won the game…
Saw some of game on Big Sky free stream. Rogna pushed off with his left to free himself for game winning 10 ft jumper. Refs thought defender embellished fall and made no call
It was nice seeing Amigo on floor in final minutes
Big road win vs quality team. Variety of contributors and different star every game are great things for a team not dependent on senior leadership. To have an 11-man rotation where everyone is engaged does wonders for team morale.
Big road win vs quality team. Variety of contributors and different star every game are great things for a team not dependent on senior leadership. To have an 11-man rotation where everyone is engaged does wonders for team morale.
Shoot, I didn’t know that the Big Sky had it on a free stream, all I saw was a replay of the final shot. This was a bigger win than it looks on the surface though, Denver was a 9.5 point underdog, so they weren’t given much of a shot.
They’ll probably be a 15-20 point underdog at Texas A&M on Wednesday, there’s really nothing to lose in a situation like that though, so hopefully they go into it loose and you never know!
Denver is a 16.5 point underdog at Texas A&M. If DU can even beat that spread, I’d be thrilled. According to Vegas, DU has a 5-6% chance of winning that game, which sounds about right. Texas A&M has one 6-11 guy, two 6-10s, two 6-9s and two 6-8s. The Pios have one 6-10 and three 6-7s, one of whom is a freshman, and another who’s never played. I fear we’re in for a long night…
Shoot, I didn’t know that the Big Sky had it on a free stream, all I saw was a replay of the final shot. This was a bigger win than it looks on the surface though, Denver was a 9.5 point underdog, so they weren’t given much of a shot.
They’ll probably be a 15-20 point underdog at Texas A&M on Wednesday, there’s really nothing to lose in a situation like that though, so hopefully they go into it loose and you never know!
Denver is a 16.5 point underdog at Texas A&M. If DU can even beat that spread, I’d be thrilled. According to Vegas, DU has a 5-6% chance of winning that game, which sounds about right. Texas A&M has one 6-11 guy, two 6-10s, two 6-9s and two 6-8s. The Pios have one 6-10 and three 6-7s, one of whom is a freshman, and another who’s never played. I fear we’re in for a long night…