Both University of Denver basketball teams had two matchups this week, and neither could come away with a win in any of the four matchups.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
The men’s team opened the week with a home matchup Wednesday night against Omaha and fell, 62-80.
Denver started the scoring early and held the lead for part of the half before Omaha flipped the momentum and kept their lead into half, 36-28. Both teams were 44% on field goals in the first half, but Omaha doubled the Crimson and Gold from three-point land, shooting 5-10.
The Mavericks kept their lead, adding 44 in the second half and shooting 62.5% from the field. The Crimson and Gold shot roughly 41% from the field in the second half.
Freshman forward Josh Pickett finished the matchup with a season-high 16 points and 2 rebounds. Freshman center Abdulai Fanta Kabba finished the night with 10 points, 8 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks and finished in double digits for the first time in his college career.
Moving to Saturday, the team traveled to St. Thomas and while they fought to the end, they still came up short, losing 62-74.
St. Thomas controlled most of the first half, collecting 44 points to Denver’s 27. The Tommies went 64% from the field and 55% from behind the arc in the half compared to the Crimson and Gold’s 50% and 28%, respectively.
Denver came out of the locker room ready for the second half and upped their defense, but it was still not enough to complete the comeback. Denver outscored the Tommies 35-30 in the half and allowed only four three-point opportunities. Denver’s field goals were 11-25 in the half while St. Thomas went 6-20.
Two players scored in double figures on Saturday. Freshman guard Sebastian Akins led the Crimson and Gold with 14 points on the night while junior guard Nicholas Shogbonyo added 11.
Denver men’s basketball travels next to Oral Roberts on Jan. 23 and returns home to Hamilton Gymnasium on Jan. 30 to face Kansas City.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
The women’s team had a matchup at Kansas City on Wednesday and lost in overtime 63-73 and lost in regulation on Saturday against Oral Roberts, 72-79.
Kansas City started with full control of the game on Wednesday night going on a 12-1 run to start the quarter, but the Crimson and Gold soon flipped the switch going on a 12-0 run of their own to go up 14-13 into the quarter break. They continued this momentum in the second quarter and entered halftime with a 27-25 lead.
The game was back and forth from then, with the Crimson and Gold going 40% in the second half from the field and 10% from three-point land and keeping the Roos to 33% and 40% from those same statistics.
The game was tied at 58 after four quarters, but Kansas City took full control of the extra quarter and scored 15 to the Crimson and Gold’s eight to win the matchup.
Junior guard Jordan Jones led the team with 24 points and nine rebounds and junior guard Angelina Robles had 14 points, eight rebounds and two steals during the matchup.
The team returned home to Hamilton Gymnasium on Saturday to face Oral Roberts.
The Crimson and Gold were hot early during the matchup, being up by eight after one quarter and eight at the half. They shot 55% from the field and 54% from behind the arc and held the Golden Eagles to 40% from the field and 27% from three-point land.
They kept up their momentum in the third quarter going 66% from three and were up by six points heading into the final quarter.
Oral Roberts went into the last quarter with a mission and succeeded, coming back and scoring 24 to Denver’s 11 to secure the victory.
Both senior guard Mary Wilson and junior guard Emma Smith scored 21 points, but it was not enough to hold off the Golden Eagles in the last frame.
DU women’s basketball returns to Hamilton Gymnasium on Jan. 22 to play Omaha.
