SEATTLE – The University of Denver men's basketball program battled for 40 minutes in an 84-70 loss at Washington on Thursday night at the Alaska Airlines Arena.
LEADERS:
After reaching the 1,000 career point milestone in the opener on Monday, senior Logan Kinsey led the Pioneers from the jump, finishing with 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting, including 3-for-5 from beyond the arc to go with four rebounds. Graduate students Jeremiah Burke (15) and Julius Rollins (10) also finished in double figures for Denver.
Washington had seven players finish in double figures, led by 13 apiece from Hann Steinbach and Wesl Yates III. The Huskies shot 50.8 percent from the field and a six-rebound edge.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
First Half:
After falling behind 6-2, back-to-back triples from Jeremiah Burke and Logan Kinsey gave the Pioneers an 8-6 lead heading into the first media timeout.
Washington used a big run to stretch its lead out to seven with 13:05 to play, but the Pioneers responded with a six-point possession that came from two triples from Kinsey and a Gabe Oldham layin to retake the lead with 12:30 to go in the frame.
The home Huskies exploded for a 12-2 run in the following segment to push their lead to 27-18 with 7:47 to go. Denver was able to cut into that lead before another Washington 7-0 spurt stretched the advantage to 12 at 35-23 with 2:46 to play before recess. Denver got the deficit to nine by the break, trailing 37-28 heading back to the locker room.
Second Half:
Washington came out shooting to open the second half, knocking down three triples in the first segment of the second half. Kinsey and Burke once again provided the early offense in the half with all eight points in the first 4:14 of the frame.
Denver cut into the lead with a spark from Julius Rollins to pull back to within 10 at the under-12 media timeout. After Washington was able to stretch the lead back out to 14, back-to-back-to-back buckets including the first three pointer of the night for Carson Johnson continued to shave the lead down to seven with under seven minutes to play.
On the other side of the under-8, Washington went on a 12-2 run to push the lead to 17 heading into the under-4, a lead Denver got back down to 14 before the final buzzer.
NOTES:
- Senior Logan Kinsey finished with 23 points and 4 rebounds.
- Kinsey finished in double figures for the third-straight game and for the 53rd time in his NCAA career.
- Kinsey finished with 20+ points for the 13th time in his college career.
- Graduate student Jeremiah Burke finished with 15 points and 3 rebounds.
- Burke finished in double figures for the second-straight game and for the fourth time in his career.
- Graduate student Julius Rollins finished with 10 points and 7 rebounds.
- Rollins finished in double figures for the 20th time in his career.
- After missing the opener due to injury, Shaun Wysocki had 3 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists in 20 minutes on Thursday night.
UP NEXT:
Denver will remain on the road, closing a season-opening three-game road trip on Sunday afternoon when the Pioneers travel to Montana State. Opening tip on ESPN+ is set for 1 p.m. MT.
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