It had been 9,949 days since the University of Denver (2-0)  played the Colorado College Tigers (1-1) on the hardwood.  Denver took that game 90-61. Thursday’s rematch had much the same flavor as the CC Tigers stumbled out of the gate with a technical when they failed to submit their starting lineup card on time. It would only get worse from there for the Tigers.

Denver jumped out to a 5-0 lead and was ahead 14-6 at 16:22 with several nice buckets by DU freshman Justin Mullins and the Pioneers dominated inside with Touko Tainamo and Lukas Kisunas before the first timeout. Two beautiful drives by Tyree ‘Philly’  Corbett pushed the Denver lead to 12. A Marko Lukic layup doubled up CC, 11-22, as Denver began to pull away. Denver was rotating players freely during the half in a display of depth as outmanned Colorado battled to make up the difference. DU went on another run, capped by a Ben Bowen layup at 10:22, giving DU a 28-11 advantage as CC went cold from the floor. Over the final 10 minutes, a host of Pioneers contributed to the rout as Denver went into the halftime break with a 49-29 lead. Denver dominated on the boards, 25 to 12, and shot a sizzling 56.7% for the half.

In the first five minutes of the second half, the Tigers cut Denver’s lead to fourteen before a Lukas Kisunas layup stopped their run at 15:13. Over the next five minutes, a host of Denver players torched the Tigers, capped by a Tyree Corbett jumper and free throw to  build the Denver margin to twenty-four, 72-48. Ben Bowen continued to impress with his ball handling and passing while showing he may be able to give Tommy Bruner some needed rest as the season progresses. Guard Dan Mukuna, a 6’8″ German recruit checked into the game at 8:20 for his first action this season. With five minutes remaining, Kisunas had a flush and a foul to build a 79-55 score. During the final minutes of the game,  Wulbrun emptied his bench as Denver fans and teammates cheered them on. Newly minted scholarship player Corey Hess and walk-on James Sanders got the loudest cheers as Denver coasted. As a nod to history, Denver scored the same number of points as 21 years earlier- ninety.

JAMES TO KOREY….COUNT IT!#GoPios pic.twitter.com/zlHq4FUciz

— Denver Men's Basketball (@DU_MensHoops) November 11, 2022

𝙎𝙃𝙊𝙒𝙏𝙄𝙈𝙀 👀 @summithoops @MarchMadnessMBB @SportsCenter #SCTop10 @benbowen40 @LKisunas#GoPios pic.twitter.com/5O4nyrLmhJ

— Denver Men's Basketball (@DU_MensHoops) November 11, 2022

This was a mismatch from the start with Denver’s size and athleticism giving CC fits. Wulbrun saw the game as a valuable opportunity to build team chemistry and play deep into his bench. Said Wulbrun, “This game helped us grow. Lots of guys got significant minutes. We had a good rebounding performance. Our front court had a good game. We want to attack the rim and get inside.” The Pioneers also got to the line 49 times and shot 65% – not perfect but an improvement over the Idaho opener. “We were better from the line – we want to make more free throws than our opponent’s attempts.” Wulbrun put the team’s progress in perspective, “It is still a work in progress. It was a nice win – we’ve made progress. That’s the goal this year. The guys are determined to do things that have never been done before (at DU).”

A big positive for the games was 38 bench points from DU, a sign that DU can compete in waves with their size and athleticism. The negatives? Seventeen turnovers against Colorado College was too many and 2 of 12 from downtown will present a challenge for Denver when Summit League Conference games begin. DU does not need to shoot more three’s, they just need to improve on the accuracy (35-40%). The high-impact players were Kisunas with 18 points, Tainamo’s 11 rebounds and freshman Justin Mullins 10 points and 2 steals but it was hard to miss Tyree Corbett with 19 points, 10 rebounds, and one steal. Corbett was the player of the game for the Pioneers.

Next up:  Sacramento State on Monday, November 14th at 7:00 pm MT