Denver men’s basketball hosted Oral Roberts on Wednesday for their first home game of 2026, after a long road trip, winning 98-87 behind sophomore guard Carson Johnson’s 30-plus point performance.
Oral Roberts came into the game 5-13 with three straight Summit League losses. Denver had also lost three straight Summit League games on the road but came in with an 8-11 record.
The game started off hot with Johnson draining three straight three point shots. The Denver defense struggled to get a stop which left their lead at 15-11 six minutes into the first half.
The two sides went back and forth for most of the half until graduate guard Zane Nelson started to get going with two straight threes in the last three minutes of the half. Another three from graduate guard Julius Rollins and a couple of buckets from Johnson gave the Crimson and Gold a 56-45 lead headed into the locker room at the half.
Denver’s defensive woes continued at the start of the second half when Oral Roberts started to dig away at the deficit. Just two minutes into the half, the lead was cut down to six points.
After a back and forth battle, a three from Oral Roberts’ Connor Dow cut the Denver lead to just three points with 12 minutes left.
“They came out firing in that second half and I think it took us a little too long to match that,” said head coach Tim Bergstraser.
Then Denver went on a run. A dagger three from both Nelson and graduate forward Jeremiah Burke plus a good defensive stretch and fast break pressure put Denver up 16 with a little over six minutes left.
The Crimson and Gold held on to this streak for the rest of the half and closed out the game for a 98-87 win.
Johnson led the way in scoring with a 33 point game, despite a relatively quiet second half, heading into the break with 24. Burke and Nelson each added 20 point games to cap off yet another high scoring game for Denver.
“My teammates just put me in good spots to get good looks,” Johnson said.
Denver shot 50 percent from three, making 12 of their 24 attempts.
Denver gave up more than 80 points for the fourth straight game, and the 14th time this season. They are currently ranked No. 349 out of the 361 Division I basketball teams for opposition points per game, at 85.
These struggles led them to switch to a zone defense at times in the second half, which Oral Roberts had less success scoring against.
“We got to keep people guessing, keep people on their toes a little bit,” said Bergstraser. “If we can figure out the defensive side a little bit, just get a little bit better, and keep doing what we’re doing offensively, you put those two together I think it makes us pretty dang competitive.”
Denver will have a week off to work on their defense before they are back at home against North Dakota on Jan. 22 and North Dakota State on Jan. 24.
