For the second game in a row, DU (14-16, 5-12) built a large halftime lead, 40-12, but Saturday afternoon the Pioneers sealed the deal. Following a heartbreaking second-half meltdown Thursday night to South Dakota State, DU kept the pedal down in the second half of their matinee game and lead tape-to-tape against the South Dakota Coyotes (11-17, 6-10). Continue reading Denver Blows Out South Dakota, 86-68 →

Denver men’s basketball (13-16, 4-12) had an 18-point lead with 13:12 remaining in the second half. Full-court pressure from the Jackrabbits (11-4, 9-1), turnovers (15) and porous second-half defense thwarted the Pioneer effort. Denver fell 80-75 in Hamilton Gym Thursday night to second place South Dakota State.  Continue reading Denver Loses Large Lead, Falls to SDSU, 80-75 →

Denver men’s basketball  (13-15, 4-11) traveled to Fargo, North Dakota (11-15, 8-6) Saturday afternoon to take on the Bison. Just like many other games this season, the Pioneers led at halftime but faded down the stretch. DU held Bison star Grant Nelson to 13 points and 11 rebounds but it was Boden Skunberg who sealed the Pioneers fate with 30 points –  18 from downtown.  Denver showed improved defense in this game and only had 7 turnovers.  However, NDSU hit 10 threes to 5 from DU and shot 52.7% from the floor compared to  47.4% for Denver. That was the difference on the afternoon. Continue reading Denver Hoops Fades in NDSU Loss, 78-70 →

DU (13-14, 4-10) faced North Dakota (9-17, 3-10) in Grand Forks Thursday night.  North Dakota went into the game hitting 9 three-point shots per game and the primary goal for Denver was to defend the arc. The Fighting Hawks hit 8 threes but beat the Pioneers in nearly every other statistical category as well while coasting to an 86-63 win. Continue reading North Dakota Runs Over Denver, 86-63 →

The University of Denver men’s basketball team (13-13, 4-9) faced the St. Thomas Tommies (16-10, 7-6) Saturday afternoon at Hamilton Gym. Going into the game, Denver had to match the 8.6 three-point makes per game for St. Thomas and stop leading scorers,  freshman Andrew Rohde and Parker Bjorklund. The Tommies were 11 of 27 from distance and Rohde and Bjorklund went 15 and 19 points, respectively. That essentially ended any hope Denver had down the stretch. Continue reading St. Thomas Bolts Past Denver, 68-57 →

Finally.

Denver (13-12, 4-8) has waited all season for a game like Thursday night. A bench-emptying, confidence-building 33-point win. The Pioneers hit on all cylinders to race out to a double-digit lead in the first half. Denver kept the pressure on the visitors for the final 20 minutes to earn a dominant 77-44 win over the Western Illinois Leathernecks (14-9, 7-5) at Hamilton Gym. Continue reading Denver Dusts Western Illinois, 77-44 →

Denver traveled to Kansas City to take on the UMKC Roos Saturday night. Yet again, it was a poor second half that doomed the Pioneers, leading by three at the break, but emerging with a final score of 70-60.

Despite four early turnovers, the Pioneers led 7-4 four minutes into the first half. A Lucas Kisunas lay-in gave DU a 12-8 lead at the ten minute mark. A flagrant foul on DU’s Lukas Kisunas, his third, led to a Roos free throw and a narrow 23-22 DU lead at 3:36. The teams traded points and the half ended in DU’s favor, 30-27, as a last second Roos shot missed the cylinder. Denver shot 34.8% to 25% for the Roos in the first twenty minutes.

Denver held the advantage until UMKC took the lead on a layup at 16:25, 33-31. UMKC extended their lead over the next six minutes and Denver trailed by five at the ten minute mark as Bruner canned a pair of free throws. Denver pulled within one point on a pair of Marko Lukic free throws, 46-45, at 8:50. Unfortunately, that was as close as DU could get down the stretch. Over the next six minutes, the Roos doubled up DU 7 to 14 on points to hold an 8 point lead. Back-to-back dunks by brothers Precious Idiaru and Promise Idiaru sunk Denver’s hopes with less than two minutes remaining, 64-52. UMKC coasted the final minute with the score ending 70-60, Roos.

Denver was thin down the stretch with injuries to Touko Tainamo and Pedro Lopez-Sanvicente and Lukas Kisunas in foul trouble. Shemarri Allen, Raquandis Mitchell and Allen David Mukeba battered DU inside. UMKC had 38 points in the paint and held DU to 1-11 from behind the arc. Tommy Bruner and Tevin Smith led DU with 19 and 17 points respectively.

Denver will try to snap their three game losing streak against Western Illinois on Thursday at 7:00 pm MT at Hamilton Gym.

After what can only be described as a tragic week, Denver men’s basketball (12-11, 3-7) traveled to Tulsa, Oklahoma to take on the very best of the Summit League – the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles (18-4, 9-0). Denver kept their composure in a solid first half against ORU but their emotional reserve ran dry the final 20 minutes. The Pioneers were outscored 59 to 22 in the half, falling in a final score of 102-61. Continue reading ORU Uses Massive Second Half to Overwhelm DU, 102-61 →

Denver men’s basketball (12-9, 3-5) traveled to Brookings, S.D. to take on perennial Summit League power South Dakota State Jackrabbits (10-9, 5-2). Going into the game, Denver had to hold down the Jacks star guard Zeke Mayo, the Jackrabbits leading scorer and rebounder. Mayo torched DU in the first half but it was a poor final ten minutes that doomed the Pioneers, 76-61. Following the loss, Coach Jeff Wulbrun said, “We didn’t perform the way we wanted to. The last minutes we didn’t execute well.” Continue reading South Dakota State Dominates Down the Stretch, 76-61 →