Denver men’s basketball traveled to Brookings, S.D. to face the South Dakota State Jackrabbits Thursday night. After falling to Denver by 19 points earlier in the season, the Jackrabbits demolished Denver 97-70 at Frost Arena. The Jackrabbits raced out to leads of 14-0 and 30-10 before DU cut the lead to 7 points in the final minute of the first half. A frustrated Tommy Bruner got an intentional foul to end the half and the Jacks momentum carried over to the second half. Following free throws to open the final 20 minutes, SDSU pushed the lead to 21 points in the first five minutes and the game was, essentially, over. It got worse from there as the Jackrabbits added to their huge lead and finished the game with a lay-up, their largest lead of the contest, 27 points, to polish off the flat Pioneers 97-70.

Overall, it was an awful game for DU. SDSU went 12 for 28 from range, 8 in the first half to bury Denver. DU allowed 57% shooting for the game, allowing dunks in the second half as the Jackrabbits stretched the Pioneers defense defending the perimeter. This may have been Denver’s poorest overall effort of the season and it came at an unfortunate time when Denver needed to sharpen their performance for the Summit League Tournament in only two games.

Jaxson Brenchley had 17 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists. Tommy Bruner had 21 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists but had two unnecessary personal fouls called after the whistle. Denver was beaten in nearly every statistical category. Overall, this was a performance DU must put behind them before facing their next opponent UMKC. The Kangaroos whipped DU by 14 points and travel to Hamilton Gym for senior night next Thursday night.