DENVER – The University of Denver men's basketball program heads to the state of Montana this week for three games in as many days in an MTE in Missoula called the Stew Morrill Classic. All three games will be broadcast on ESPN+ and 104.3 The Fan HD3.
DENVER'S SCHEDULE:
Sunday - Denver at Montana – 5 p.m. MT
Monday – Denver vs. Cal State Northridge – 2 p.m. MT
Tuesday – Denver vs. Utah Tech – 2 p.m. MT
LAST TIME OUT:
Denver's biggest win of the young season came last Sunday when the Pioneers used a 47-point first half to defeat Big Sky Preseason No. 2 Montana State by a count of 79-78 inside Hamilton Gymnasium. Denver had five players finish in double figures, led by 15 from guard Nicholas Shogbonyo.
SERIES HISTORY – DENVER VS. MONTANA:
- Denver and Montana have split the four meetings since Denver rejoined Division I in 1998-99.
- The home team has won all four meetings.
- The Pioneers won the last meeting 56-49 in Magness Arena in November, 2009.
- DU's last trip to Montana saw the Griz win 63-44 in December, 2008.
- The two teams played a home-and-home in the 2002-03 campaign, splitting the season series.
SERIES HISTORY – DENVER VS. CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE:
- The Pioneers hold a 2-1 advantage in the series against CSUN since the Pios rejoined DI in 1998-99.
- Denver won the last meeting 66-63 in December, 2010 in Magness Arena.
- Monday will mark the first neutral site meeting between the two teams.
SERIES HISTORY – DENVER VS. UTAH TECH:
- Utah Tech won each of the previous two meetings between the two programs since Denver rejoined DI.
- In a two-year home and home in December, 2020 and December, 2021, Denver lost the opener 73-70 in Hamilton Gymnasium.
- Utah Tech won the 2021 meeting at home by 20 points
- Tuesday marks the first neutral site meeting between the two programs.
WULBRUN'S FOURTH YEAR
- Head coach Jeff Wulbrun is in his fourth season in charge of the Denver men's basketball program in 2024-25.
- Wulbrun led the Pios to 11 wins in 2021-22, the most by the program since the 2017-18 season. The nine win improvement tied for the best in the program's Division I era.
- Denver earned 15 wins in 2022-23, winning eight of the first nine out of the gate, the best start to a season in the program's DI history.
- Denver had 17 wins last season and earned the program's first Summit League Tournament wins since 2018, and made the first conference final since 2005.
- Prior to joining the Pioneers, Wulbrun had nearly three decades of experience as an assistant coach at Stanford, UAB, Virginia Tech, Illinois State and Cal.
SPREADING THE SCORING
- Denver had six players score in double figures and no one score more than 15 in Denver's 97-80 win over Western Colorado on Nov. 8.
- DeAndre Craig led the Pios with 15, Pedro Lopez-Sanvicente scored 13, Sebastian Akins added 12 and Nicholas Shogbonyo, Isaiah Carr and Josh Lee all finished with 10.
- It was the first time Denver had 6 players in double figures since December 15, 2012 against Omaha.
- 12 years ago - Royce O'Neale had 17, Chase Hallam had 12, Chris Udofia scored 11, Brett Olson and Nate Engesser chipped in 11 and Cam Griffin scored 10.
- Last time out vs. Montana State, Denver had five players in double figures, led by Nicholas Shogbonyo's 15.
LEGAL THEFT
- Denver recorded 13 steals in a win over Western Colorado on Nov. 8, the program's most since February 26, 2020 at Fort Wayne.
- Sebastian Akins and Nicholas Shogbonyo had 3 apiece to lead a group of five Pios with multiple steals.
- Josh Lee had four steals in the Pios win over Montana State on Nov. 17
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