SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The University of Denver men's basketball program dropped an 83-67 decision to North Dakota in the fourth and final Summit League Quarterfinal on Friday night at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center.
LEADERS:
Summit League Player of the Year
Carson Johnson led the Pioneers with 17 points, including 9-of-10 from the free-throw line.
Jeremiah Burke (13) and
Zane Nelson both finished with 11 in their final collegiate games, and
Shaun Wysocki added 11 more.
Greyson Uelmen led North Dakota with 41 points.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
First Half:
Zane Nelson connected on his first shot of the game to give the Pioneers the lead on the game's first possession. Denver held a 7-4 lead after
Carson Johnson's first triple of the night, but North Dakota hit three of four shots heading to end the first segment to take a 8-7 lead into the under-16.
Out of the timeout,
Shaun Wysocki hit a runner and
Jeremiah Burke connected on his first triple of the night to put Denver back in-front at 12-10 with under 14 minutes to go. North Dakota responded with a 5-0 run of its own to take a 15-12 advantage into the second media.
UND stretched its run to 9-0 before a
Josh Lee mid-range jumper got Denver back to within five at the midway point of the first half. Burke hit his second three to get the Pioneers back to within two, but back-to-back triples in response from Eli King and Greyson Uelmen stretched the North Dakota lead out to eight at the under-8.
On the other side of the break, Uelmen hit his third triple of the first half to give the three-seed its biggest lead of the night at 11. Nelson and Wysocki hit a pair of buckets to get the North Dakota lead down to seven at the final media of the first half.
UND's sixth triple of the half pushed the lead out to 12, and then pushed it out to 16 in the closing stretch with a seventh shot from beyond the arc. Nelson beat the horn with a triple to get it back to 42-29 at the break.
Second Half:
North Dakota opened the half on a 9-2 run to stretch its lead to 18 at the first media break of the second half. The Fighting Hawks continued to build on their advantage, getting it out to 23 before Denver hit four of its next five field goals to trim the deficit to 18 with under 10 minutes to play.
Logan Kinsey got his first bucket of his final collegiate game to continue to cut into the North Dakota lead with 8:30 remaining. The Fighting Hawks maintained the lead through the final eight minutes to hold on to the victory.
NOTES:
Zane Nelson finished with 11 points and 4 assists.
Nelson finished in double figures for the second-straight game, the 20
th time this season and the 46
th time in his career.
Carson Johnson finished with 17 points and 4 rebounds.
Johnson finished in double figures in the final 20 games of the season, 30 times this year and now 50 times in his career.
Johnson finished second in Denver's single-season history in points with 642.
Johnson finished third in Denver's single-season history in three-pointers made with 87.
Jeremiah Burke finished with 13 points and 5 rebounds.
Burke finished in double figures for the 22
nd time this season and the 24
th time in his career.
Shaun Wysocki finished with 11 points.
Wysocki finished in double figures for the second-straight game, the ninth time this season and the 21
st time in his career.
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