Men's Basketball

Denver Shocks CSU in Fort Collins, 83-81

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Denver men’s basketball (2-3) ventured 68 miles north on I-25 to face the CSU Rams at Moby Arena. The Rams were 4-0, and DU was looking to get on the winning track following a disappointing loss in their home opener. Denver took an eight-point lead at halftime. However, it was a tough, savvy final ten minutes of play when the Pioneers displayed their mettle and put down the Rams 83-81.

DU jolted the Rams, leading 41-33 at the halftime break. Both teams shot over 50% in the first twenty minutes. The Pioneers forced an extra three turnovers and nailed 8 makes from downtown to only 3 from CSU. Zane Nelson and Carson Johnson led DU with 14 and 10 points, respectively.

The Rams pulled back even, 45-45, in the first five minutes of the second half. It looked like CSU would wear down the unheralded Pioneers. Denver settled down and held a narrow two-point lead at the midway mark, 58-56. A Logan Kinsey bucket put DU up by 6 points with five minutes left. A three-point make by the Rams’ Jevin Muniz pulled the Rams within three with four minutes left. With two minutes left, and DU leading by six points, a Kyle Jorgensen three-point play cut the Rams’ deficit to three again, 80-77. A pair of CSU free throws cut the margin to one with less than a minute remaining. Down the stretch, a pair of free throws by CSU were offset by a critical two free throws made by Julius Rollins to maintain the narrowest of leads. With two seconds left, a Rollins free throw extended Denver’s lead to two points. The Rams called a timeout and followed with a desperation three-point shot. Josh Pascarelli Hail Mary missed the mark shooting from the right corner as the ball rattled off the rim and Moby Arena went quiet. DU 83, CSU 81.

While it was an all-around team effort, many of Julius Rollins’ 16 points and 3 rebounds came at big moments. Gabe Oldham hauled down 7 boards and battled against a bigger CSU team, holding his own. DU got a big contribution from Zane Nelson (22 points) and Carson Johnson (18 points) in the huge road win at Fort Collins. DU only committed 4 turnovers for the game, while CSU had 11. Those extra possessions probably were the difference in the game.

Next up for DU is a road game against #4 Arizona in Tucson, Arizona, on Monday at 8:30 pm MT.

8 thoughts on “Denver Shocks CSU in Fort Collins, 83-81”

  1. Arizona has a national championship level roster – if anything will be a valuable learning experience for your guys – let’s go Pios

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  4. Skeptical at first when the Pios went after a strong D2 coach. Impressed how he has taken this roster and made them confident and cohesive early on. These tight wins against MSU and CSU could definitely make a difference as the Pios look to make some noise in the Summit this year.

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  5. Due to a history of failure, there are skeptics as well as people who do not know or care about DU hoops. My expectation and hope is consistency and winning over time at their level (mid-major). This is a start but it needs to be done over time to develop belief and wider fan interest. Plus, DU had a short recruiting window this season – so expect some inconsistency.

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  6. Playing in front of bigger crowds at CSU, Arizona, Washington, etc. must be generating some good revenue for DU. Not sure of the contracts between schools.

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  7. We used to call these ‘bodybag’ games. Schools who play in ‘buy games’ can make $25-50k, sometimes much more. Sometimes a host school will pay for the visiting team’s travel and lodging in addition to paying a guarantee. They can either toughen the weaker program or destroy their confidence. Under Rodney Billups, his DU team lost 101-40 to Gonzaga and never recovered their confidence that season. Sometimes coaches and their staff get all or part of the money. With NIL, DU may elect to profit share all or part of the proceeds.

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