DENVER – The University of Denver men's basketball program will return to the road on Friday with a trip up I-25 north to take on Colorado State. Opening tipoff on the Mountain West Network is set for 7 p.m. MT.  

SERIES HISTORY:
Colorado State holds a 97-67 advantage in the all-time series history, and a 17-3 edge in Denver's modern Division I era (1998-present). Since Denver rejoined Division I in the late 90s, the Pioneers are 1-10 in Fort Collins with the win coming by a count of 80-70 in December, 2013. FULL HISTORY

LAST TIME OUT:
Sophomore Carson Johnson scored the first 15 Denver points of the second half, but the Pioneers comeback came up short in an 84-79 loss to UTSA in their home opener on November 15. FULL RECAP 

JOHNSON CLUTCH DOWN STRETCH IN WIN AT MONTANA STATE

• Carson Johnson hit the game-winning shot with 1.8 seconds to go in Denver's 75-73 win over Montana State on November 9, the Pioneers first win under head coach Tim Bergstraser. 
• In the second half of the win, Johnson shot 6-10 from the field and 2-3 from beyond the arc for 15 points.
• Prior to the winner, Johnson hit a step-back triple to take a 73-71 lead with 1:33 to go.
• Denver's 13-point comeback was its biggest since coming from 20 down to beat North Dakota St. 77-71 on Feb. 17, 2024. It was also the biggest comeback in a road game since Feb. 3, 2022 at North Dakota.

JOHNSON OPENS SECOND WITH 15-STRAIGHT DU POINTS VS. UTSA

• In Denver's home opener against UTSA on November 15, sophomore Carson Johnson scored Denver's first 15 points in the first 3:36 of the second half to erase a nine-point halftime deficit.
• Johnson is averaging 13.8 points per second half in his first four games at Denver, shooting 20-of-40 from the field and 6-for-15 from 3 in the final 20 minutes of games.

BURKE'S FIRST HALVES GETTING DENVER OFF TO GOOD STARTS

• Graduate student Jeremiah Burke has been on fire in the opening 20 minutes of Denver's season so far, averaging 14.0 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1 assist in the first half of games.
• In the first half of each of the four games combined, Burke has shot 20-31 from the field (64.5%), 8-13 from deep (61.5%) and 8-10 from the line (80.0%).
• In Denver's two-point win at Montana State on November 9, Bruke scored 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting in the opening 20 minutes.
• Burke had 16 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists in the first half of the season opener at Seattle on November 3.
• Burke had 16 points and 3 rebounds in the first half of Denver's home opener vs. UTSA.
• For his performance in the opening week, Burke was named Summit League Peak Performer of the Week on November 11, becoming the seventh different Pioneer to earn the honor since the Pioneers joined the league in 2013, and the first Pio not named Tommy Bruner since Jase Townsend on January 18, 2021.

KINSEY HAS BIG DAY IN POWER-4 DEBUT

• Senior Logan Kinsey had 23 points on 8-12 shooting, including 3-5 from beyond the arc in Denver's tight loss to Washington on November 6.
• Kinsey's 23 points were the most by a Pioneer against a P4 opponent since Joe Rosga scored 24 points at Texas A&M on December 7, 2016.

KINSEY REACHES 1,000 CAREER POINTS IN DENVER DEBUT

• Senior Logan Kinsey reached the 1,000 point club in the 98th game of his collegiate career on November 4, scoring 15 points in Denver's season-opening loss at Seattle.
• Kinsey scored 498 points (14.6) in his junior season at Minnesota State Moorhead a year ago.
• Kinsey now has 1,045 points in 101 career games.

THE TIM BERGSTRASER ERA

• Tim Bergstraser was named the 34th head coach in the men's basketball program's history on April 14.
• At age 34 (as of Oct. 1), Bergstraser is the eighth youngest Division I men's basketball head coach in the country in 2025-26.
• Bergstraser retained three players from last year's Denver roster, kept one DU commit and signed 11 transfers late in the transfer portal.
• Bergstraser came to Denver after three seasons at Minnesota State Moorhead, where he went 75-22, leading the Dragons to three-consecutive 25-win seasons and three NCAA Tournament appearances.
• MSUM won two NSIC Tournament titles in his three seasons, and reached the NCAA Sweet 16 in his final season with the Dragons in 2024-25, the program's first regional final appearance since 2014-15.
• In 2023-24 MSUM opened the campaign 14-0 to earn the program's first No. 1 ranking in program history.
• Bergstraser's teams in his three years at MSUM all finished with a 3.4 GPA or better, and earned the conference's Elite 18 Award winner for the student-athlete with the highest GPA at the NSIC Championship.
• Prior to taking over as the head coach, Bergstraser was an assistant for four seasons at MSUM, an assistant at Quincy for a year, a grad assistant for two at MSUM, an assistant at Wisconsin-River Falls and a student-assistant at St. Cloud State after his third ACL injury cut his playing career short.

DENVER'S ASSISTANTS

• Associate head coach Spenser Bland comes to the Mile High City from being in the same position on the MSUM staff under Bergstraser.
• Bergstraser said in his 2025-26 season preview radio show that he would not have taken the Denver job if Bland didn't agree to come with him.
• Bland serves as the program's offensive coordinator.
• In the middle of seven seasons at Minnesota State Moorhead, of which he spent the final two as the associate head coach, Bland coached one season at the University of Sioux Falls (2021-22).
• A former assistant in the Summit League, Kyle Heikkinen joined Tim Bergstraser's staff after five seasons at Western Illinois, of which he spent the final two as the associate head coach.
• Heikkinen also had assistant jobs at Highland CC and Wisconsin-Whitewater, combining for a 237-124 record in his previous 12 seasons as an assistant.
• Abe Woldeslassie joined Bergstraser's staff after spending the last seven seasons as the head coach at Macalester (NCAA DIII).
• Prior to his time in Minnesota, Woldeslassie had positions on DI staffs at Siena, Davidson and Dartmouth.
• Scott Gauthier was named the program's Director of Operations, coming to Denver after a year as an assistant at IU Indy.
• Gauthier's previous coaching stops also included a year at Lindenwood and seven seasons at the University of Missouri -St. Louis.
• Nihilo Ibarra was the last addition to the staff, joining Denver after serving as the head manager for San Diego State's 2022-23 squad that made the national title game, and two seasons as a graduate assistant at Nebraska.

UP NEXT:
Denver will play the middle game of its three-game road swing on Monday when the Pioneers head to nationally-ranked Arizona. Opening tip on CBS Sports Network is set for 8:30 p.m. MT.

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