On the heels of a two-game victorious road sweep in North Dakota, DU men’s basketball (13-14, 6-6) returned to Hamilton Gym to face the North Dakota State Jackrabbits. The winnning formula for Denver this season is simple – hold opponents in the 70’s and win. The Jackrabbits have been scoring at a 75.9 per-game clip so if DU held SDSU to their season average, the Pioneers had a good chance at victory. They did even better, besting the Jackrabbits 79-61 in a runaway victory.
Carson Johnson scored half of DU’s points at the first official’s timeout, 8-8. Logan Kinsey exited the game early with an ankle injury but returned after the break. A Jeremiah Burke tray capped a Pioneer run, 16-8. Kinsey and Josh Lee splashed from distance, 22-10. Denver carried a 27-10 lead at the midway mark. Denver led 29-18 with 5 minutes left in the half. SDSU started to slice into DU’s lead as Denver went cold from the field, 32-25, with 1:23 remaining. Carson Johnson nailed a step-back jumper as time wound down, 36-25, and carried the momentum into halftime.
Both teams started the second half cold before SDSU sunk a charity. A Jeremiah Burke tray restored order, 41-27. Johnson followed with another bucket from beyond the arc to give DU a 44-29 edge at the official’s timeout. A twisting layup from Zane Nelson extended the lead, 46-31. Denver started to control the boards on SDSU misses (SDSU shooting 35% from the field) and led by 14 caroms. The scoreboard read 53-37 at the official’s second half timeout. Sean Wysocki cleaned up a fast break miss and DU built a 16 point lead at the midway mark. Denver used three point makes in the half, 5 of 7, to keep the Jackrabbits at distance. SDSU went to the press but DU broke the Jackrabbit pressure. Denver led 66-51 at the 5 minute mark. SDSU made a short run but Zane Nelson stopped the momentum with a fall-away make, 70-56, as 2:30 remained. Denver led by 16 with 1:30 remaining and coasted to the decisive win, their third in a row. Final score 79-61 Pioneers.
SDSU held the lead for less than a minute in the game and the Jackrabbits were held to 38.5% (vs. 48.3%) shooting. DU crashed the boards for 43 rebounds (+14). Carson Johnson led the assault with 23 points and Jeremiah Burke stacked on another 18 points and 12 rebounds for a double-double. Denver was 12 of 23 from beyond the arc and only allowed 2 makes from distance. Ultimately, it was the Denver defense that gave fans a chance to sit back and enjoy a decisive win.
Next up is a weekend swing to Omaha for a Sunday game at 11:00 am MT.
Impressive win and impressive improvements by the team on the defensive end. Despite what many seemed to suggest, the staff may understand how to coach defense. Took the team some time to get total buy in, but they are all digging in on that end lately. If they keep it up, it is gonna be a fun ride the rest of the season.
Keep it rolling, Pios!! This team is fun! And despite what has happened in the past, I hope fans enjoy it!
DU is really playing well now 4 of 5, including two big wins in North Dakota and a blowout of perennial power SD St. They easily could be five in a row, losing to Omaha by only two.
This team is full of shooters and now the D is matching the O. Tournament could be very interesting.
I don’t remember how many years, but it’s been a long time since DU won 3 Summit League games in a row. Bravo players and coaches.
Good job, they seem to be making progress