GREELEY, Colo. – The University of Denver men’s basketball program trailed by as many as 11 with 8:22 to go in regulation, but Zane Nelson’s season-high 32 points keyed Denver’s second-half comeback to earn the Pioneers an 86-79 win over Northern Colorado on Saturday afternoon at Bank of Colorado Arena.
Denver’s win gets the Pioneers back to .500 at 7-7, while Northern Colorado dropped just its third game of the campaign, falling to 9-3.
LEADERS:
Nelson’s season-high 32 was his third-career 30-point game. The Denver guard shot 11-for-15 from the field, 5-for-5 from beyond the arc and 5-for-5 from the line. Nelson also added three assists and three steals.
Jeremiah Burke (15), Logan Kinsey (14) and Carson Johnson (11) also finished in double figures.
Brock Wisne led Northern Colorado with 27 points and six rebounds. Ring Nyeri added the game’s only double-double with 15 and 13.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
First Half:
Northern Colorado raced out to a 13-6 lead in the opening segment before Jeremiah Burke connected on Denver’s first three of the afternoon to make it a four-point game at the first media timeout.
Back-to-back buckets from the Bears got the home team’s lead to 19-13 before Zane Nelson connected on another Denver triple to make it a three-point game with 10:20 to go at the second timeout of the afternoon.
Nelson converted a three-point play coming out of the media timeout and created another three-point play opportunity going into the under-8 to draw Denver even at 26-26 with 7:33 to go.
Carson Johnson shook his defender to open himself up for his first three of the day to give Denver its first lead at 35-32 with 4:10 to go.
Northern Colorado responded with an 8-2 run to take the lead back at 40-37 before another Nelson triple with six seconds left sent the two teams into the locker room all knotted up at 40.
Second Half:
Burke and Kinsey led the Pioneers in the opening segment of the second half, but the two teams traded buckets and were all even at 49 apiece with 15:24 to go in regulation.
A pair of transition buckets sparked a Northern Colorado mini-spurt that gave the home team a five-point lead, but a third triple from Nelson and a third three-point play from Nelson made it a 57-55 Bears’ lead with 12:40 to play.
The Bears hit six of seven field goals to extend their lead to its largest at 11 with 11:08 to go. Julius Rollins keyed a 10-2 Denver run in a 3:02 stretch in response to trim the Bears’ lead to 72-69 with 5:41 on the clock. Nelson hit his fourth and fifth threes of the afternoon to stretch that Denver run to 16-3 in 3:50 to give Denver the lead back at 75-73. The Bears got it back even at 77 apiece at the under-4.
Rollins split a pair of free-throws out of the timeout and Burke hit a big corner triple to make it a four-point game with 1:55 to go. A Ring Nyeri put-back cut the Denver lead to two before Burke carved his way into the paint to restore the four-point advantage. Denver’s defense got another stop before an easy layin gave Denver its biggest lead of the afternoon at six with 14 seconds remaining.
NOTES:
- Saturday’s win paired with Denver’s November 21 win at Colorado State will make Denver the only Division I team in the state of Colorado this season to finish unbeaten against in-state foes.
- Denver defeated Colorado State and Northern Colorado in the same season for the first time since 2003-04.
- Denver improved to 11-10 in its modern DI era against Northern Colorado.
- The win broke Denver’s six-game losing streak against the Bears, giving the Pioneers their first win over UNC since 2016 and their first win in Greeley since 2015.
- Denver’s defense held Northern Colorado below its scoring average, and committed just 10 fouls in the game.
- Zane Nelson finished with 32 points, 3 assists and 3 steals.
- Nelson finished in double figures for the sixth time this season and the 32nd time in his career.
- Nelson finished with 20+ points for second time this season and the 10th time in his career.
- Nelson reached 30 points for the first time this season and the third time in his career.
- Nelson had 54 points in two road games against Division I Colorado schools this season (22 at CSU on November 21).
- Nelson’s 32 points tied Shaun Wysocki’s 32 against Alaska Anchorage on December 11 for the most points by a Pioneer in a single game this season.
- Logan Kinsey finished with 14 points.
- Kinsey finished in double figures for the ninth time this season and the 60th time in his career.
- Jeremiah Burke finished with 15 points and 8 rebounds.
- Burke finished in double figures for the third-straight game, the 10th time this season and the 12th time in his career.
- Carson Johnson finished with 11 points.
- Johnson finished in double figures for the second-straight game, the 12th time this season and the 32nd time in his career.
UP NEXT:
Denver will wrap-up its schedule in the calendar year 2025 on Monday afternoon when the Pioneers head to Tulsa. Opening tip on ESPN+ is set for 1 p.m. MT.
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