Denver (12-9, 3-5 Summit League) used an explosive second half to down South Dakota (8-11, 3-4 Summit League) Thursday night in Vermillion, South Dakota. The Denver squad used hot shooting, rebounding dominance, team defense and a healthy Tevin Smith to spur the convincing road win. This was the team many fans expected when conference play began. The win marks Denver’s second consecutive conference win, their first on the road this season. Said head coach Jeff Wulbrun after the game, “Anytime you get a road ‘W’, it is a great thing”. Continue reading Denver Dominates South Dakota on the Road, 75-60
Category Archives: Men’s Basketball
Denver Takes Down North Dakota, 78-71
It was a critical win for DU men’s hoops Saturday afternoon as they battled North Dakota and a slew of three-point makes (15/39) at Hamilton Gym Saturday afternoon.
Denver built an early 10-2 lead, fueled by a 8-0 run, triggered by Tyree Corbett to start the game. At the midway point, DU’s Lukas Kisunas pushed Denver’s lead to 25-14. Three-point makes by UND cut the lead to six points with three-and-a-half minutes remaining until break, 33-27. UND trays narrowed the lead- 37-34, DU at half. Nine offensive rebounds by the Fighting Hawks kept the score close along with eight made threes to only one for DU – yet Denver responded to each UND push.
The two teams traded points over the first ten minutes of the second half. With eight minutes remaining, Denver held to a slight lead, 63-60, but the Pioneers could not put the Fighting Hawks away with their 13 made three’s to stay in contact. UND’s Matt Norman pulled the Hawks within one, 66-65, with a hook shot and a missed free throw. DU countered with a small four point run and with 3:52 remaining, DU owned the ball and a five point lead. After DU ran clock, a pair of Tyree Corbett charities put DU up by seven, 72-65 with two minutes remaining.
Denver held strong down the stretch as Touko Tainamo went to the line to regain a seven point lead with less than 40 seconds left. UND countered with a bucket but Marko Lukic responded at the free throw line to put the finishing touches on the final score,78-71, DU.
As a team, DU out-rebounded UND 40-33 in a show of toughness. Tevin Smith continues to make progress from injury with 20 points and 5 rebounds. The star for the Pioneers was Tyree Corbett with 10 points and 15 rebounds, cementing the win. Matt Norman paced UND with 18 points.
During the four game skid, Jeff Wulbrun stated that the team “did a lot of self analysis and we needed greater effort- especially on the defensive end. We needed to compete.” Wulbrun also got to see some smiles when he entered the locker room. Hard to call any single conference game a ‘must win’ but Saturday’s victory should go a long way in restoring confidence to the Pioneers.
North Dakota State Cruises Past DU, 90-70
Thursday night DU men’s basketball added to their dreadful three game conference losing streak, all by double digits. The game featured a DU team, once 8-1 and brimming with confidence, fall behind early and fade in the second half. NDSU never trailed in the game and led by as many as 27 points. The win extended the Bison winning streak to four games and Denver fell to 1-5 in conference play.
Sports are oftentimes as much about confidence as skill. Denver trailed by six points before half at Hamilton Gym when NDSU’s Boden Skunberg drained a three point heave at the buzzer. That basket sapped the energy and confidence from Hamilton Gym.
The Bison opened up the second half with seven straight points and it was game over.
The Bison went 10-27 while DU went 5 of 10 from three. The Pioneers are giving up shots from distance – especially timely baskets from distance which stop momentum and drain confidence. But overall it will be improved overall defense, perimeter and low block, which will lift DU out of this funk. And, of course, a solid dose of confidence would help as well.
Touko Tainamo, Tevin Smith and Tommy Bruner all finished with 13, 11 & 12 points respectively. Smith appears to be rounding back into form after a leg injury.
Denver has a chance to get back on track against last place North Dakota Saturday afternoon at Hamilton Gym.
Twenty-two Turnovers Kill Pioneer Hoopsters in 91-74 rout at Western Illinois
It was a dreary Saturday afternoon in the cornfields as the Denver Men’s Basketball team turned the ball over a season-high 22 times, helping Western Illinois to a chippy 91-74 rout over the Pioneers in Macomb, Illinois.
The loss pushed Denver to losses in seven of its last eight games against D-I foes, with the Pios falling to 10-8 on the season and 1-4 in Summit League play.
“We need to be lot better,” said an exasperated DU coach Jeff Wulbrun after the game on radio. “We’re not giving the effort level we need to be successful…We’re giving up too many points on defense — we’re averaging 80 points [given up to opponents] a game in league play. That’s not acceptable and that really comes down to effort…We’re not playing up to our capabilities, and we’re playing with a lack of discipline. We [the coaching staff] have never had this happen at any of the places we’ve been [before Denver], and we’re going to find five guys who can play the right way. We’re going to impact some changes by the time we get back to Denver.”
DU again started slow and sloppy, racking-up 12 first-half turnovers, and Western led 37-25 at the half. While the Pioneers never led the game after the first minute of the contest, the Pioneers did make a second-half run behind the hot shooting of of Tommy Bruner, and were able cut the Western lead to just five points at 62-57 with 7:32 left in the second half. However, the Leathernecks responded with a 10-0 run of their own after that that took only a couple of minutes, and the WIU rout was on as the Leathernecks coasted on to the 17-point win.
Western’s Trent Massner had a game-high 29 points, edging-out teammate Alec Rosner’s 28-point performance to lead the Leathernecks. Massner also showed a lack of sportsmanship when he needlessly dunked on the Pioneers with a few seconds remaining in the rout (with Western already up by 15 points) something Denver will probably remember for the next time these teams meet later this February in Denver.
For Denver, Tommy Bruner and Tuoko Tainamo each had 19 points, and Tyree Corbett chipped-in with 16 points for the Pioneers to lead the offense. The Pioneers shot well from three point range, knocking down five of 11 long range attempts and lost the game with a 37-31 rebounding advantage, collecting 11 offensive boards in the game.
DU’s Tevin Smith (from Danville, Ill.) had his best game since his injury with 10 points. He and fellow Illinoian Justin Mullins (Oak Park, Ill. — 6 points) both enjoyed the Illinois-based fan support from family and friends making the drive to Macomb, making some noise for the Pioneers on an otherwise pretty terrible afternoon at Western Hall.
DU returns home to face North Dakota State on Jan 12 at 7pm at Hamilton Gymnasium.
Bad First Half Dooms Pioneers in 81-71 Loss at St. Thomas
After a poor first half showing, the Pios men’s basketball team made a gallant second half run, but the hole was just too big and DU ultimately fell, 81—71 to St. Thomas University in St. Paul, Minn., in a game where the Pioneers never led after the first minute. Continue reading Bad First Half Dooms Pioneers in 81-71 Loss at St. Thomas
Pioneers Fall to Summit Favorite Oral Roberts 80-62, to Close Out 2022
Denver (10-6, 1-2) met Summit League favorites, the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles (12-3, 3-0) Saturday afternoon at Hamilton Gym. DU had the daunting challenge of stopping NBA prospect guard Max Abmas (18.9 ppg) on the perimeter and 7’5″ Connor Vanover on the inside. Continue reading Pioneers Fall to Summit Favorite Oral Roberts 80-62, to Close Out 2022
Denver Outlasts Kansas City in 3 OT’s, 85-83
Denver Men’s basketball (10-5, 1-1) returned to the court Thursday night against UMKC (5-10, 1-1). Denver desperately needed a home conference win to snap a two-game skid and it took three overtime periods to settle the final score. What was once a defensive struggle in the first half, turned into the Tommy Bruner show as a Tommy Bruner 3-point shot found net with 1:09 remaining in the third overtime period to land on the final score. The co-star on the night was UMKC’s Shemarri Allen who finished with 34 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals. Bruner finished with 29 points, 4 assists, and 13 of 13 from the charity stripe to hold the charging Roos at bay. Continue reading Denver Outlasts Kansas City in 3 OT’s, 85-83
DU Men’s Hoops Inks NIL Deal with Shinesty
LetsGoDU got an exclusive look at the DU men’s basketball student-athletes recent NIL (Name, Image & Likeness) photoshoot for Shinesty.
Shinesty is a Colorado-based retailer of party clothing as well as men’s and women’s underwear. The company is a national marketer and was recently named to Inc. Magazine’s 5000 fastest-growing companies list and this NIL agreement is the first national clothing deal for the University of Denver student-athletes.
Shinesty’s first NIL social media campaign was conducted by CU football lineman Tommy Brown. DU men’s basketball is next on the list for Shinesty, renowned for its self-proclaimed “irreverent brand voice”. Denver student-athletes Tommy Bruner, Tyree Corbett, and Ben Bowen represented the team on the shoot, which was held at Roka Studios in Denver.
“When we were approached by Shinesty to model their party clothing and underwear in a social media campaign, we wanted to learn more because we represent more than just ourselves,” said redshirt freshman Ben Bowen. “We are representing ourselves as well as our fellow student-athletes. We wanted to have fun, generate some social media interest in Shinesty products and maybe even go viral – so people know more about us.”
The student-athletes jumped into the photo shoot with the same energy and confidence they have shown on the court. “Our team is tight,” said Bruner. “We want to do things that have never been done before at DU – this is just one more thing. NIL is a part of growing the student-athlete experience beyond the court.”
The Shinesty brand campaign had to be agreed upon by all participants before going out on social media. “While the CU ads were funny, we wanted to focus on Shinesty’s product-brand attributes and get people to visit Shinesty,” said the extroverted and versatile Tyree Corbett. “At the same time, we wanted people to see that we are a fun team and, maybe, people will want to come out to see our games, too. Who knows, maybe we build a long-term deal with Shinesty if the campaign is effective.”
When asked about the financial arrangement, the DU players would not disclose the details of their compensation – only to confirm it was ‘a very fair deal’ for both parties. The student-athletes had a free hand in developing the artistic direction and wanted their photoshoot to look like a magazine layout. Point guard Tommy Bruner said, “They [Shinesty] are very chill. They let us do our thing. We hope they like it.” KO Design created the graphic design for the campaign. The full social media campaign will roll out over the next several weeks with a total of 6 Shinesty visual messages posted on social media by the team.
“We hope we can make it onto a few local online news sites or even local television news because this is the first national NIL deal for DU basketball student-athletes. Hopefully, this is just the beginning for student-athletes at DU,” added Tyree Corbett.
For a press kit and images of the Shinesty Student-Athlete campaign with DU student-athletes, contact LetsGoDU via email.
Denver Loses late to Oregon State, 57-52
Denver (9-5, 0-1) had the basketball and trailed by one-point in a highly contested game with less than 30 seconds to go in Corvallis, Oregon. Unfortunately, a Denver turnover thwarted the upset bid with the Pioneers eventually falling on free throws to the Oregon State Beavers, 57-52. Before the game, coach Jeff Wulbrun implored his team to step up their defense and “be a player-led team”. They did just that but just came up short Wednesday night following a strong effort. Continue reading Denver Loses late to Oregon State, 57-52
Denver Fades in Second Half, 83-66, Drops Opener
Denver Basketball (9-4, 0-1) traveled to Omaha (5-8, 1-0) to start the Summit League conference regular season. The teams were tied at the half but the Mavericks thoroughly outplayed Denver on both ends of the floor the final 20 minutes. Omaha nailed 6 of 10 three’s in the half, outscored DU 46-29, outrebounded Denver by five and the Pioneers committed 9 turnovers in the second half. The reason for the loss? “A lack of toughness if I’m being honest,” stated a disappointed Jeff Wulbrun. Continue reading Denver Fades in Second Half, 83-66, Drops Opener