POCATELLO, Idaho – The University of Denver men's basketball program ran into a hot-shooting Idaho State and fell 93-79 in the final game of the Big Sky/Summit League Challenge on Saturday evening inside Reed Gym.
LEADERS:
Logan Kinsey led all scorers with 21 points, while sophomore guard Carson Johnson chipped in 20. Idaho State shot 15-of-29 from beyond the arc, led by five triples and 19 total points from Martin Kheil. The Tigers had four different players hit at least three triples on Saturday.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
First Half:
Denver opened the game on a 10-5 run to take a five-point advantage into the first media timeout of the night. Idaho State answered when back-to-back triples fueled a Bengals run to flip the script and give the home team a 27-17 lead with 9:10 to play.
Idaho State extended its lead to its biggest of the opening half at 13 with 7:23 to play before a 7-0 Pioneers run helped get that deficit down to just five again with 6:08 to go in the opening frame.
The Bengals stretched their lead back out to nine before a Zane Nelson buzzer beater trimmed the margin to six at the intermission.
Sophomore guard Carson Johnson led Denver in the first half with 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting, including 2-of-4 from beyond the arc.
Second Half:
Idaho State grabbed four offensive rebounds on its first possession and got four points out of it to instantly push its lead up to 10. A Logan Kinsey layin got the deficit back to six before Idaho State got a bucket on the other end to take a 53-45 lead into the under-16.
A driving layup from Jeremiah Burke and a pair of free-throws from Nelson got the Idaho State lead back down to four with under 13 minutes to play.
Burke had a big block in the post that Johnson dove on the floor to secure the rebound before he fed it to Nelson that hit a rim-running Burke in transition to throw it down and bring Denver back to within two with under 12 minutes to play.
Idaho State responded with an 8-0 run to take its lead right back up to 10 points with 9:30 to go in regulation.
A pair of Logan Kinsey free-throws on the other side of double technical fouls cut the Idaho State lead down to four, before back-to-back threes from the home team provided an answer yet again to stretch the margin back to 10.
Denver was unable to cut into the lead late, and the Bengals held on to the double-digit win.
NOTES:
- Denver is now 4-2 all-time in the Big Sky/Summit League Challenge (1-2 on the road).
- Carson Johnson finished with 20 points.
- Johnson finished in double figures for the seventh-straight game, the eighth time this season and the 28th time in his collegiate career.
- Johnson finished with 20+ points for the second time this season and the 14th time in his career.
- Johnson played all 40 minutes, the third Pioneer to do that in a game this season.
- Logan Kinsey finished with 21 points and 7 rebounds.
- Kinsey finished in double figures for the second-straight game, the sixth time this season and the 57th time in his four-year NCAA career.
- Kinsey finished with 20+ points for the second time this season and the 14th time in his career.
- Jeremiah Burke finished with 13 points and 7 rebounds.
- Burke finished in double figures for the second-straight game, the sixth time this season and the eighth time in his NCAA career.
- Zane Nelson finished with 10 points and 6 assists.
- Nelson finished into double figures for the second-straight game, the fourth time this season and the 23rd time in his NCAA career.
- Nelson has finished in double figures in four of the last five games, all off the bench.
- Six assists is the most by a Pioneer in a game this season.
UP NEXT:
Denver will open a four-game homestand on Tuesday night when the Pioneers welcome Colorado Christian to Hamilton Gymnasium. Opening tip is set for 4 p.m. MT on ESPN+.
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