#7 Denver faces home team and #1 seed South Dakota State tonight at 7:30 pm MT on CBS Sports Network. The Pioneers have never been dancing but they can if they follow these five keys:
Defense travels. Tournament hoops is a slog that requires the ability to create stops and maintain contact in half-court games until a team finds a scoring run. Can DU string together another defensive gem against a deep Jackrabbit team and the conference player of the year? We know DU can score but stops will be at a premium.
Denver must withstand the early SDSU push. The Jackrabbits are home and will try to dominate early. Several DU players told us their favorite game was against CSU when they played in a sold-out Moby Arena. They enjoyed being the villain and will play one in South Dakota.
Touko Tainamo. Touko has been out of sorts recently and surely playing with an injury. No player on the team is more capable of a double-double than Tainamo. Different players have played big for DU – it is Touko’s turn tonight. The big Fin needs to be a stat stuffer.
This is Tommy Bruner’s team. It may take bailing wire and duct tape to hold him together but DU needs Tommy on the floor. Three games in four days on a bum ankle is a lot to ask. Tommy is the heart and soul of this team.
The two teams split during the season, delivering double-digit road losses. The Summit League player of the year, Zeke Mayo, and William Kyle drive the bus for the Jackrabbits. Denver cannot allow this tandem to get into a scoring rhythm or get rest on the defensive end.
It will take a complete game tonight driven by these five keys. In the past, DU needed luck to go dancing. Yes, they may need a little luck tonight but they have everything it takes to win.
https://letsgodu.com/2024/03/12/du-announces-summit-league-championship-watch-party-at-hamilton-gym/
The CSU game was great. A loud place! Yes, Pioneers will need an extra bounce on the ball tonight! Great job so far.
Good summary. I think the Pios are due for a decent shooting performance tonight, but I worry that those tired Pio legs may not be able to play man-to-man defense for long.
Stick to the zone, take care of the ball, be smart, let the crowd noise lift you, and let SDSU worry about Pios.
I hope Carr plays in control and stays out of foul trouble. He was great last night and logged many minutes. He must do it again. Dunker on pins and needles.
Lets go Pios!
Go Pios! Let’s get on our dancing shoes!👠
Another key is the continued lack of turnovers from DU and playing smart. Pedro had a huge game against SDSU at home in January, and boy if we could get a repeat of that performance that would be nice!