TULSA – The University of Denver men's basketball program dropped its non-conference finale at Tulsa by a count of 90-85 on Monday afternoon inside the Reynolds Center.
With the win, Tulsa improved to 12-1, while the Pioneers fell to 7-8 against a top-35 strength of schedule in the country heading into Summit League play on New Year's Eve.
LEADERS:
David Green led Tulsa with 23 points and three rebounds, one of four Golden Hurricane players to finish in double figures.
Carson Johnson led Denver with 20 points, while Gabe Oldham recorded his second double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Jeremiah Burke had 16 points and five rebounds and Zane Nelson tallied 16 points, six rebounds and six assists. Logan Kinsey rounded out Denver's double figure scorers with 15 points and five rebounds.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
First Half:
Logan Kinsey split two defenders with a pretty feed to setup a Gabe Oldham jam. Zane Nelson also continued his hot run of form with five points in the opening segment, but Tulsa went into the first media timeout with a 12-9 lead.
Denver continued to battle in the second segment, getting a four-point possession from consecutive baskets by Carson Johnson and Jeremiah Burke sandwiched around a Tulsa foul to even the score up once more. Seven Denver fouls in the opening nine minutes after committing just 10 fouls on Saturday sent the game to its second media timeout with the Golden Hurricane leading 18-17.
Oldham and Logan Kinsey continued to get Denver in the paint, an area where Denver struggled on Saturday. The Pioneers scored 18 of their first 28 in the paint Monday and trailed just 27-25 at the under-8 media timeout.
Turnovers on three-straight Denver possessions keyed a quick Tulsa run to push the margin to 36-27 with 5:24 to go in the opening half. The Golden Hurricane carried a 38-33 lead into the final media timeout of the first half.
Julius Rollins gave Denver three big plays on the defensive end on three-straight possessions to impact a 3:44 scorelesss stretch for Tulsa that stretched Denver's run to an 11-2 spurt to tie the game back up at 38-38 with 49 seconds remaining. Tulsa got two straight layins to take a four-point lead into the locker room.
Second Half:
Tulsa stretched its lead back out to eight at 47-39 before a Kinsey layin and a Nelson three-point play cut the Denver deficit back to just three with 16:30 to go.
The two offenses combined for a 2-of-12 stretch from the floor, but a Rollins' layin broke the Denver drought, and Johnson hit a pair from the line to bring Denver back to within two seven minutes into the second half. Tulsa led 55-51 at the under-12.
A Johnson four-point play that gave Denver just its second three-point make of the afternoon tied things back up at 55-55 with 11:09 remaining in regulation. Tulsa continued to work in the paint and Denver got the job done from the free-throw line as the Golden Hurricane took a two-point lead into the penultimate media timeout.
Out of the media, Miles Barnstable hit a triple for Tulsa and Nelson responded with his second from beyond the arc to make it 66-64. A pair of three-point plays for the Golden Hurricane pushed the Tulsa lead back out to six with 5:43 to go, a lead Denver cut to 72-68 at the final break.
Tulsa extended its advantage to 11 with a Myles Rigsby triple before Burken answered with a three on the other end to make it 82-74 with under two minutes to play. David Green's 23rd point of the night took the Tulsa lead to 13 for the first time on Monday in the final minute.
Denver trailed by eight with 20 seconds to play before Johnson drew a flagrant foul and hit a triple from the corner to cut the deficit to four. After Denver forced a turnover in the press, Johnson took another tough contested triple and couldn't cash in.
NOTES:
- Denver had four players finish with 15+ points on Monday afternoon.
- Gabe Oldham finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
- Oldham turned in his second double-double of the season and of his career.
- Oldham finished in double figures in scoring for the second time this season and of his NCAA career.
- Oldham pulled down double digit rebounds for the second-straight game, the fifth time this season and the fifth time in his career.
- Carson Johnson finished with 20 points and 4 rebounds.
- Johnson finished in double figures for the third-straight game, the 13th time this season and the 33rd time in his career.
- Johnson finished with 20+ points for the sixth time this season and the 18th time in his career.
- Logan Kinsey finished with 15 points, 5 rebounds and 3 steals.
- Kinsey finished in double figures for the second-straight game, the 10th time this season and the 61st time in his career.
- Kinsey's season-high 3 steals was the sixth 3+ steal game of his career.
- Jeremiah Burke finished with 16 points and 5 rebounds.
- Burke finished in double figures for the fourth-straight game, the 11th time this season and the 13th time in his three-year career.
- Zane Nelson finished with 16 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists.
- Nelson finished in double figures for the second-straight game, the seventh time this season and the 33rd time in his career.
- Nelson finished with 5+ assists for the second time this season and the 17th time in his career.
UP NEXT:
Denver will enter its holiday break before returning to Hamilton Gymnasium on New Year's Even for the Pioneers Summit League opener against Kansas City. The 2 p.m. MT tipoff will be broadcast on the Summit League Network and 104.3 The Fan HD3.
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