DENVER – The University of Denver men's basketball program will play the middle game of its three-game road swing on Monday night when the Pioneers head to [5/4] Arizona. Opening tip for the national TV date on CBS Sports Network is set for 8:30 p.m. MT.

SERIES HISTORY:
The two teams will meet for the first time in Denver's modern Division I era on Monday night, and for the fifth time in the program's entire history. Arizona holds a 3-1 lead in a series that began in 1961-62. The last meeting between the two programs came in 1985-86. Denver's lone win in the series was a 72-70 victory in Denver on December 27, 1965.

LAST TIME OUT:
Graduate student Zane Nelson scored 22 points off the bench to lead the Pioneers to their first win over Colorado State in 12 years, this one by a count of 83-81 at Moby Arena. Julius Rollins scored 16, including Denver's final six points down the stretch in the win. FULL RECAP

DU VS. RANKED OPPONENTS

• Denver is 13-54 in its history against Division I ranked opponents, including 3-34 in true road games.
• Denver's last win against a ranked opponent came against No. 19 Utah State on February 15, 1971, a 96-74 victory in Denver.
• The Pioneers last road win against a ranked opponent came on January 30, 1971 at No. 13 Oregon, a 93-83 victory.
• Denver is 0-15 against ranked opponents since the back-to-back wins in 1971.

DENVER VS. THE POWER 5

• Denver is 1-33 in its Division I history against programs from the Power 4.
• The Pioneers lone victory since the 1999-00 season was at home against Oregon State on December 13, 2000.
• Denver's last single-digit loss against a Power-5 team came last year in the Pioneers trip to Oregon State (12/21/22).
• The Pioneers are 1-10 against Power-5s in single-digit outcomes.

UNIVERSITY OF DENVER ACCEPTS WCC INVITE FOR 2026-27

• On October 31, the University of Denver announced it has accepted an invitation to join the West Coast Conference in nine sports, beginning in the 2026-27 season.
• "My immediate response was excited. I understand how big it is for the university and overall for athletics. I understand that it's a power conference for sure, and I think it's just the absolute perfect fit for our program and university." Head Coach Tim Bergstraser
• Denver will join the West Coast Conference in men's and women's basketball, men's and women's golf, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's tennis and women's volleyball.
• The move provides Denver with a significant enhancement to the overall reputation of the university and brand association, allying DU with highly regarded, mostly private institutions with stronger academic ranking and profiles that will further strengthen the university's position in the western United States.

NELSON'S 22, ROLLINS STRETCH RUN LEADS PIOS TO WIN AT CSU

• Graduate student Zane Nelson scored 22 off the bench to lead the Pios to their first win over previously unbeaten Colorado State in 12 years.
• Nelson's 20-point performance was his first as a Pio and his ninth in his NCAA career.
• Julius Rollins scored 16 points, including Denver's final six points in the last 1:53 of the win.
• The win was Denver's second in Fort Collins since rejoining DI in 1998-99 (2-10).
• DU is 4-17 vs. Colorado State in 21 meetings since the late 90s.
• The Pioneers turned it over just four times on November 21, its first game under five turnovers since December, 2024 at Portland State, and the first game with four or less turnovers since January 27, 2024 against Omaha.
• Friday marked the first game with four or less turnovers in a win since turning it over just four times in a 94-63 win over Omaha on January 22, 2022.

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 12.6 points per second half in his first five games at Denver, shooting 22-of-46 (47.8) from the field and 7-for-18 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 11.8 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1 assist in the first half of games.
• In the first half of each of the five games combined, Burke has shot 21-34 from the field (61.8%), 9-15 from deep (60.0%) 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.

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 close out its second three-game road swing of the early season on Wednesday when the Pioneers make another trip up I-25 to Wyoming. Opening tip from the Arena Auditorium is set for 6:30 p.m. MT.

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