DENVER – The University of Denver men's basketball program turned in a 53-point second half led by a 32-point night from sophomore Carson Johnson to pull away from South Dakota by a count of 90-70 on Thursday night inside Hamilton Gymnasium.
 
LEADERS:
Johnson shot 11-for-21 from the field, including 5-of-7 from beyond the arc and 5-of-6 at the free-throw line. Logan Kinsey added 16 points and five rebounds and Josh Lee gave Denver 14 key minutes off the bench, scoring 10 points, getting three steals and pulling down three rebounds.
 
Cameron Fens led South Dakota with 22 points and 10 boards.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
First Half:
Denver and South Dakota matched each other out of the gate at 8-8 in the opening segment. Jeremiah Burke and Carson Johnson got the offense started with a pair of triples.
 
Denver built a 7-0 run out of the under-16 anchored by Burke's second three of the night to push Denver's lead out to five with 12:59 to go. South Dakota cut into the advantage, narrowing the Pioneer advantage to one after a Vince Buzelis triple. Didier Maleng gave Denver a boost off the bench, scoring six points in his first four minutes on the floor.
 
Back to back jumpers from Logan Kinsey and Johnson stretched Denver's lead to its highest of the night at six with 6:07 remaining. Johnson continued to find his range late in the half, knocking down another triple to take Denver's lead out to 35-26 with 4:43 remaining.
 
South Dakota's defense closed the half strong, holding Denver scoreless for more than three minutes and got Denver's lead all the way down to three with 31 seconds to play. Denver carried that three-point lead into the intermission.
 
Second Half:
South Dakota continued to slow down Denver's offense out of the locker room, stretching the scoreless drought to over five minutes before a Kinsey layin gave Denver the lead back with 17:57 to play. South Dakota built its lead to two before Shaun Wysocki knocked down a triple to put Denver's noses back in-front. Jordan Crawford responded with a triple before an acrobatic Johnson three-point play took Denver into the media timeout with a one-point lead.
 
Gabe Oldham provided a big three-point play on the block to help rebuild Denver's lead to six with 12:16 to go, but was answered by a Cameron Fens layin to send the two teams in the under-12 with Denver leading 55-51.
 
Johnson knocked down a key triple and drew a foul, completing the four-point play from the line to send Denver's lead to its biggest of the night at 10, and forcing a South Dakota timeout with 10:55 to go. The Pioneers advantage was trimmed to eight at the under-8.
 
Wysocki earned a big offensive rebound to give Oldham second-chance points to get Denver's lead back to 10 with 6:05 to go in regulation. South Dakota put a couple stops and scores together to get it back to a six-point game before Kinsey got in the paint and knocked down a bucket to make it a 75-67 Denver lead and send the game to the under-4.
 
Johnson hit a clutch three closely guarded, and then pulled off a three-point play a possession later to get Denver's lead out to 13 and start to put Denver out of reach. The Pioneers knocked down their free-throws in the stretch run to open-up the margin to 20 by the final horn.
 
NOTES:
Denver finished with 90+ point for the fourth time against a DI opponent this season.
Sophomore Carson Johnson finished with 32 points and 3 assists.
Johnson finished in double figures for the 17^th-straight game, the 27^th time this season and the 47^th time in his career.
Johnson finished with 20+ points for the 16^th time this season and the 28^th time in his career.
Johnson ranks in the top-10 in the country in 20+ point games this season.
Johnson finished with 30+ points for the third time this season and the fourth time in his career.
Johnson's 32 points tie for the 15^th-highest output in the program's DI history.
Johnson moved up two spots on Denver's single-season scoring chart on Thursday night, passing Yemi Nicholson's 2004-05 season and Ade Murkey's 2019-20 campaign for third on Denver's list.
Johnson's five triples moves him to 79 on the year, good for sixth in Denver's DI history.
Senior Logan Kinsey finished with 16 points and 5 rebounds.
Kinsey finished in double figures for the second-straight game, the 17^th time this season and the 68^th time in his career.
Senior guard Josh Lee finished with 10 points on 10-of-10 from the free-throw line.
Lee finished in double figures for the second time this season and the 10^th time in his career.
Lee finished in double figures for the first time against a DI opponent since February 8, 2025 against St. Thomas.
 
UP NEXT:
Denver will host St. Thomas on Senior Saturday at 4 p.m. MT inside Hamilton Gymnasium. The game will be streamed live on the Summit League Network.
 
TICKETS:
Tickets for the 2025-26 season are on sale now, and can be purchased here.
 
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