A promising #7 DU men’s basketball season began with hope. That promise was quickly followed by a key player exit and injuries, a number of excruciating losses and an end-of-season coaching mystery – capped by tonight’s quarterfinal blowout loss to St. Thomas in the Summit League Tournament quarterfinals. All eyes now shift to the uncertain future of a program visibly reeling and in search of answers. The loss was all the more disappointing to a #2 St. Thomas team that cannot qualify for the NCAA Tournament due to their elevation from DIII.
All season long, St. Thomas was lethal from three-point range. Thursday night, the Tommies continued scoring from distance. STU blistered the Sioux Falls nets while sinking 5 of 6 from downtown to race out to an early 25-12 lead nine minutes into the first half. The Tommies were effectively rotating the ball and finding open shooters while DU struggled to find their shooting touch. STU held a comfortable double-digit lead, 30–18, at the media timeout (7:30) as DU struggled to find an offensive rhythm. The Tommies employed a soft press to speed up offensive possession and pressed DU’s guards. A Josh Pickett three-point make narrowed the score to 33-26 but St. Thomas pulled away in the final minutes to extend their lead to 48-32 at the break. The Tommies went to the line 18 times to DU’s 6 as they penetrated and shot the ball or kicked it back to the perimeter. Denver’s defense, usually stout, was a step slow on switches and allowed 59.1% shooting from the field in the first half.
Denver found no answers at halftime. The Tommies opened with yet another three from beyond the arc and they were back in rhythm. STU began to add to their double-digit lead, 57-40, five minutes into the half. DU could only score 4 points in the second five minutes of the second half. A Tommie three by Miles Barnstable ballooned their lead to 20 points – the rout was on. Isaiah Carr got his fifth foul with five minutes remaining. From there, the Tommies players smiled and celebrated over the final five minutes with their bench, coaches, band and fans. It was a disheartening end to what was once a promising season, 80-62.
Sophomore DeAndre Craig led DU with 15 points and 2 rebounds. Freshman Josh Pickett finished with 14 points and 3 rebounds. The Tommies nailed 10 of 20 three-point shots while DU went 4 of 13 from downtown.
Uncertainty surrounds the immediate future of the young team, featuring five freshmen. At this point, the basketball transfer portal opens March 24th. If head coach Jeff Wulbrun’s ‘leave’ is not resolved shortly, both NIL basketball donors and players will have to make difficult decisions about their commitment to the program. This evening also marks the end of the collegiate basketball careers of Ben Bowen, Isaiah Addo-Ankrah and Pedro Lopez-Sanvicente.
From a human perspective, tonight’s game was heartbreaking to watch. The DU Athletic Department Administration completely failed these student athletes through its unexplained actions over the past few weeks. For those of us who are long-time fans, they effectively destroyed the progress being made in building a program for the first time. Just a sad continuation of their lack of support for the basketball program over the past few years .
If this were a more high profile program, we’d have better answers by now about the coach and why he is on leave.
That’s what I’m saying – DU has had a few coaches just quietly go away. Still waiting to hear what Jeff Hooker did.
Well, nobody goes to see the games. The games aren’t worth seeing. End the program.
Not happening. Every conference requires basketball. Just don’t go if you don’t like it.