KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The University of Denver men's basketball team couldn't complete another comeback against Kansas City this time around as KC held serve at home with a 64-56 victory over the Pios on Thursday night at the Swinney Center.

The Pioneers (10-20, 4-11) had two players score in double figures, led by Nicholas Shogbonyo, who had 20 points. DeAndre Craig added 12 points and two steals and Isaiah Carr added eight points and two blocks.

NOTES:

• Kansas City's win snapped a two-game Denver winning streak in the series, and earned the Roos a split in the season series.
• KC improved to 6-1 against the Pioneers on their home court.
• Denver played at full health for just the second time this season (1-1 in those games).
• Nicholas Shogbonyo finished with 20 points and 3 rebounds.
• Shogbonyo finished in double figures for the second-straight game and the 21^st time in his first season with the program.
• Shogbonyo had 20+ points for the fifth time this season.
• Shogbonyo's eight free-throws made moved his season total to 124, taking him past Touko Tainamo's 2023-24 total for the sixth-most free-throws made in a single season in Denver's Division I history.
• DeAndre Craig finished with 12 points and 3 rebounds and 2 steals.
• Craig finished in double figures for the ninth-straight game, the 21^st time this season and the 32^nd time in his career.

HOW IT HAPPENED:
After a back and forth opening 10 minutes, Kansas City went on a 10-2 run to hop in-front 17-10 at the under-8 media timeout. The Roos held on to the lead into the intermission, taking a 28-16 lead into the locker room. The Pios shot just 7-24 from the floor in the opening 20 minutes and was 0-6 from behind the arc.

Denver struggled to cut into the KC lead until late in the contest. Shogbonyo got going from the free-throw line, and DeAndre Craig hit his first triple of the night with 3:34 to go to trim the deficit to six and force a KC timeout with the score at 53-47. Shogbonyo hit another jumper to cut the KC lead to four, but the Roos hit their free-throws down the stretch to hold on for an eight-point win.

This article was created using technology provided by Data Skrive.

UP NEXT:
Denver will return home for the final time in the 2024-25 season on Saturday when the Pioneers welcome South Dakota State to Hamilton Gymnasium. Opening tip is set for 1 p.m. MT, and the game will be broadcast on the Summit League Network and 104.3 the Fan HD3. Denver will honor seniors Isaiah Addo-Ankrah, Ben Bowen and Pedro Lopez-Sanvicente before tipoff.

TICKETS:
Get tickets for the 2024-25 season by clicking here.

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