Denver (14-13, 5-7) trailed by four points at halftime. Just like their earlier trip to North Dakota, they made three-point shots (6 of 8 for UND in the second half) and outshot DU from the field with many of their other points coming in the paint. Treyson Eaglestaff shot Denver out of the building with 27 points in the second half. Denver was within two points of the lead with under four minutes remaining but came unraveled down the stretch, falling by 13 points, 88-75. The late-game fade has become an ongoing problem for Denver in conference play.

Denver trailed at half 41-37. The Fighting Hawks shot 53% while DU shot 44% from the field. Eli King scored from distance for the Fighting Hawks, 4 of 5 from downtown, and finished the first half with 16 points. UND had 24 points in the paint. Touko Tainamo had a double-double in the first half with 17 points and 10 rebounds to pace the Pioneers.

Denver forced UND into nine turnovers in the second half but had trouble stopping the Fighting Hawks who responded to every Pioneers push. Denver took the lead at 8:48 of the second half but it was short-lived. The Hawks outshot DU from the field once again 55.6% to 48.3% in the second half as Denver struggled to maintain contact. The Hawks went 6 of 14 from downtown in the second half and finished a blistering 52.6% from three-point range for the game. In the final ten minutes, Treysen Eaglestaff made critical buckets to extend the lead. Eaglestaff added 11 points in the final four minutes to bury DU. Tommy Bruner could never get untracked on the night and finished with 11 points and 2 assists, a game when he became DU’s all-time scoring leader.

The Fighting Hawks followed the same script they used in Grand Forks with an evenly played first half but employed three-point sharpshooting and inside scoring to earn a convincing 14-point win.  Their outside-in game produced a whopping 42 points in the paint. Denver never seemed to control the tempo or the game.

Touko Tainamo ended up with 27 points and 13 rebounds. The player of the game for Denver was DeAndre Craig with 11 points and 4 assists.

It gets no easier from here as the Pioneers must reboot quickly as they face North Dakota State at 2:00 pm MT at Hamilton Gym.