DU men’s basketball (10-14-3-6) played the Omaha Mavs on Saturday afternoon at Hamilton Gym. The Pioneers were trying to string together consecutive wins and build on their previous road win in Kansas City. Omaha finished strong in the closing minutes for the 84-82 win. The Mavs owned the paint, scoring 44 points inside and out-rebounding DU by 10 in a physical battle.
Omaha jumped out to a 9-0 lead as head coach Tim Bergstraser called a timeout to stop the bleeding. Denver responded with a rain of three point plays the remainder of the half. Logan Kinsey broke the ice with a three-point make, 11-4. Zane Nelson splashed a three from distance and closed the gap to 11-7. Julius Rollins scored a bucket-and-one to make it a one point game. Josh Lee finally gave DU the lead with 12:00 left in the half with yet another three. Another Zane Nelson triple put DU up 16-13 at the midway mark. Denver held a narrow edge, 21-20, with five minutes left. Jeremiah Burke began to catch fire. Burke kissed a floater off the backboard and followed that with a three point make, 29-20 DU. Burke’s scoring streak held off an Omaha push with another pair of makes, 12 points in the half, and a six point lead with a minute to go. The 35-27 score held until halftime.
Denver opened the second half on fire, capped by a Logan Kinsey lay-in and a pair of charities, 46-33. Omaha came charging back, 46-43, before Zane Nelson canned a shot from beyond the arc, 49-43, DU. A pair of Omaha threes knotted the score, 49 all. At the midway mark, Omaha matched Denver, 58 all. Just after Omaha built a 5 point lead, Logan Kinsey closed the Mav’s advantage to three 65-62. Omaha worked inside to build a 6 point lead with five minutes left. Burke struck with a corner bomb 71-68, to make it a one possession game. Gabe Oldham fouled out on a Mav three-point play, 74-70. The Mavs started working inside and built a seven point lead with 1:30 remaining. Denver was forced to go into a full court trap. Denver narrowed the score to one point at several times in the last minute but Omaha countered with free throw makes. Final score 84-82.
Omaha scored more than half of their points in the paint in a very physical game. Denver had only 5 turnovers and went 12 of 30 from downtown. The Pioneers were outrebounded by ten, 43-33. Zane Nelson had 19 points and 7 rebounds. Carson Johnson finished with 19 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists.
Next up is a North Dakota swing starting with North Dakota State Thursday night in Fargo, North Dakota.