GRAND FORKS, N.D. – The University of Denver men's basketball program won its third-straight road game and completed its first sweep through the state of North Dakota on Saturday afternoon, defeating the Fighting Hawks 98-79 at the Betty Englestad Sioux Center.
 
LEADERS:
For the second time this year, and just the fifth time in the program's Division I history, the Pioneers had three different players score 20+, led by 22 from sophomore guard Carson Johnson, who was a perfect 10-for-10 from the line. Jeremiah Burke added 20 more to go with seven rebounds and five assists, and Logan Kinsey had 20 points and nine rebounds.
 
Zane Nelson had 17 more and Shaun Wysocki rounded out Denver's double figure scorers with 10 points and six boards.
 
Greyson Uelmen led the Fightin Hawks with 24.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
First Half:
Zane Nelson caught fire to start the game, scoring 10 points in the opening six minutes to force a North Dakota timeout which sent the teams to the first media with the Pioneers leading 16-5.
 
North Dakota had a mini 4-0 spurt before Carson Johnson got to the cup and Shaun Wysocki hit his first jumper of the game. Denver led 20-11 to the under-12.
 
North Dakota made a run to cut the Denver lead to 20-18 before a Logan Kinsey layin and a Jeremiah Burke triple pushed the Pioneers advantage right back to seven with nine minutes to play, a 25-18 advantage that they took into the under-8.
 
Denver continued to build on its lead, stretching it out to 35-19 with just under four minutes to play in the opening half. Kinsey got into double figures in the run, and Burke and Wysocki got to the cup to aid the Pioneers advantage.
 
The Pioneers maintained a 16-point lead going into the locker room. Kinsey and Nelson finished with 12 in the opening 20 minutes.  
 
Second Half:
Denver continued to stretch its lead, getting it out to 19 points with 16:24 to play, getting the first triple of the afternoon from Johnson. UND went on another mini-run, but Kinsey's seventh bucket of the afternoon quickly provided the answer for the Denver offense and kept the lead at 18 at the under-16.
 
Johnson hit a second three to get into double figures and Shaun Wysocki and Jeremiah Burke got their points totals up to nine apiece to keep Denver 17 points ahead at the under-12.
 
North Dakota knocked down 18 of its first 20 from the free-throw line, including 10 makes in the early stages of the first half to cut Denver's lead to 12 before a Julius Rollins jumper got the Pioneers advantage back to 14.
 
After the Fighting Hawks cut the margin to 11, Johnson hit two free-throws on a shooting foul, and Kinsey hit a mini hook shot to lead by 15 with 9:21 remaining. North Dakota trimmed the Denver lead to 12 at the third media of the half.
 
A 5-0 North Dakota run out of the under-8 trimmed the deficit to single digits for the first time in the second half, pulling the Fighting Hawks to within 70-63 with 7:07 to go. Gabe Oldham responded with a bucket to push it back to nine. After a UND basket got it back to seven, Burke drilled his second triple to restore Denver's double-digit advantage.
 
 Kinsey and Nelson got back-to-back points off possessions to get the Denver lead back out to 83-67 with four minutes remaining. A Burke three-point play and another Burke triple a couple of possessions later sealed the game, pushing Denver's lead to 21 with under a minute to go. Johnson also knocked down six of his 10 free-throws down the stretch to keep the Fighting Hawks at a distance to close the game.
 
NOTES:

• The Pioneers moved into a tie for fifth in the Summit League standings, knocking off two of the top three on the road this week.
• DU scored 98 points for the second time this season on Saturday afternoon, its most in a road game in its Division I history, and tied for the fifth-most overall.
• Denver had five players finish in double figures for the 41^st time in the program's history and the fourth time this season, including the third time in conference play.
• Denver had three different players finish in double figures for the second time this season and the fifth time in the program's Division I history.
• The Pioneers are the 13^th team in the country to have at least three players finish with 20+ points in a game at least twice this season.
• Today, Carson Johnson finished with 22 and Jeremiah Burke and Logan Kinsey each had 20.
• On January 14 vs. Oral Roberts, Johnson scored 33 and Burke and Zane Nelson each had 20.
• Prior to this season, On December 20, 2021 vs. Western Illinois, KJ Hunt scored 22, Touko Tainamo scored 21 and Jordan Johnston had 21.
• Denver shot 56.7% from the field, shooting above 55% from the floor for the first time in conference play this season.
• Zane Nelson finished with 17 points and 2 assists.
• Nelson finished in double figures for the fourth-straight game, the 17^th time this season and the 43^rd time in his career. 
• Logan Kinsey finished with 20 points, 9 rebounds and 2 assists.
• Kinsey finished in double figures for the 15^th time this season and the 66^th time in his career.
• Kinsey finished with 20+ for the fourth time this season and the 16^th time in his career.
• Carson Johnson finished with 22 points and 7 assists.
• Johnson finished in double figures for the 14^th-straight game, the 24^th time in the season and the 44^th game of his career.
• Johnson had 20+ points for the second-straight game, the 14^th time this season and the 26^th time in his career.
• Johnson finished with 5+ assists for the fourth time this season and the sixth time of his career.
• Johnson's point total brings him up to 506 points on the season, moving him into ninth in a single season program history in the category.
• Johnson also became the 12^th different player in program history to make at least 70 three-pointers in a season.
• Johnson's 106 free-throws this season moved him into a tie for 10^th in program history with Nate Rohnert's output in the 2008-09 season.
• Jeremiah Burke finished with 20 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists.
• Burke finished in double figures for the third-straight game, the 19^th time this season and the 21^st time in his career.
• Burke had 20+ points for the ninth time this season and of his career.  
• Burke had 5+ assists for the first time in his career.
• Shaun Wysocki finished with 10 points and 6 rebounds.
• Wysocki finished in double figures for the seventh time this season and the 19^th time in his career.

 
UP NEXT:
Denver will return home on Thursday night to take on South Dakota State in Hamilton Gymnasium at 7 p.m. MT. Fans are encouraged to red out for Denver's annual Crimson Out. Thursday's game will be broadcast on Altitude 2, 104.3 The Fan HD3 and the Summit League Network.
 
TICKETS:
Tickets for the 2025-26 season are on sale now, and can be purchased here.
 
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