DENVER, Colo. — Denver’s Tommy Bruner and Pedro Lopez Sanvicente combined for 49 points to lead the Pioneers to a 99-80 victory over South Dakota State in Hamilton Gymnasium on Saturday.
The Pios led for a majority of the first half, however the Jackrabbits kept the margin close and tied the score at 31 when Charlie Easley hit a 3-pointer with just over five minutes on the clock. Easley drained another 3-pointer to put the Jacks up 36-35 a minute later and SDSU had a 43-39 edge following a William Kyle III field goal with just over two minutes remaining.
The home side ended the half on an 8-0 run to go to the break up 47-43. Bruner had 20 points in the first half to carry the Pioneers through 20 minutes.
The Jackrabbits stuck with Denver by recording a 63.3% clip from the field.
South Dakota State used a six-point scoring stretch, capped by a Zeke Mayo fastbreak layup after a Kalen Garry steal, to gain its only lead of the second half at 56-55 with 15:24 left. The Pioneers followed with an 8-0 run to go up by seven and eventually stretched the lead to double digits for good with 8:45 remaining.
Denver improved to 11-7 overall with the victory while SDSU dropped to 9-9. Both the Jackrabbits and Pioneers are now 2-1 in Summit League men’s basketball through each side’s first three games of conference play.
Notes
- The 99 points given up by the Jackrabbits are the most since the 2021-22 season.
- Denver shot 54.4% from the floor and 48.3% from 3-point range. SDSU finished 52.6% from the field, but made just six of its 22 attempts from deep (27.3%).
- Bruner led the Pioneers with 26 points while he was joined by Lopez Sanvicente who scored a career-high 23. The two combined to go 20-for-29 from the field (69%).
- Denver committed just seven turnovers to SDSU’s 14.
- The Jackrabbits were paced in the score column by Kyle III. The sophomore forward scored a career-high 26 points on 10-for-11 from the field. His 90.9% field goal percentage is tied for the fifth best individual mark in program history for a single game. He also had a team-high eight rebounds and tied for a team best three assists.
- Mayo scored 19 points and Easley joined him in double digits with 12 for South Dakota State.
- Denver’s victory ended a 12-game losing streak against SDSU. The Jackrabbits are now 22-7 all-time versus the Pioneers.
Up Next
South Dakota State returns to Brookings for its next matchup. The Jackrabbits are slated to host Omaha in Frost Arena at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 18.