They just dont have the skill of Brian Norberg in taking care of the ball. Our videos kind of show that to the next opponent.
Side note: Brian is now coaching at Watertown and his team won its first game of the season...now, 1-1. Watertown isn't giving Brian a lot of talent to work with.
DENVER, CO University of Denver pulled away in the closing minutes of the first half and the Pioneers went on to an 83-69 victory over South Dakota State Saturday night in mens basketball.
SDSU was within 28-25 before Denver pulled way to a 40-27 half time lead.
Senior guard Brady Hokenson had his first double-digit output of the season as he led the Jacks in scoring with a career high 15 points. Michael Loney added 12 points and Luke Geiver added 11.
Hokenson, who was 3-for-4 on three-point shots, also had eight assists.
Denver shot 50 per cent (30x60) for the game while SDSU shot 45 per cent (26x58 ), but the Jacks had a commanding 41-23 rebounding advantage. On the flip side, SDSU had 24 turnovers compared to 9 for Denver. . . .
SDSU is now 1-7 for the season, and will have its second home game of the season next Saturday, Dec. 18, when the Jacks host Michigan Tech in a 4 p.m. game at Frost Arena.
Denver 83, South Dakota State 69
South Dakota State (1-7)
Joe Green 2-10 2-2 6, Ben Beran 2-5 0-0 6, Jared DeJong 4-7 0-0 8, Luke Geiver 4-7 0-0 11, Brady Hokenson 4-5 5-5 15, Casey Mackenzie 1-1 2-2 5, Steve Holdren 3-12 0-0 6, Michael Loney 6-11 0-0 12. Totals 26-58 8-8 69.
Denver (4-2)
Antonio Porch 5-12 2-3 12, Yemi Nicholson 5-9 0-0 10, Rodney Billips 5-7 0-2 15, Eric Benzel 7-11 1-1 19, Andrew Carpenter 3-7 4-4 19, Steve Wetrich 1-2 0-0 3, Joseph Jackson 0-3 0-0 0, Terrence Gordon 0-0 0-1 0, Brian Brown 0-3 0-0 0, Brett Seger 4-5 2-2 13, Dan Gibbons 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 30-60 10-15 83.
South Dakota State 27 42 69
University of Denver 49 43 83
FG% - SDSU .448, UD .500. 3-pt FG SDSU 9-24 (Hokenson 3-4, Geiver 3-5, Beran 2-4, Casey 1-1, Loney 0-1, Holdren 0-3, Green 0-6), UD (Billups 5-6, Benzel 4-7, Seger 3-3, Wetrich 1-1, Brown 0-1, Gibbons 0-1, Jackson 0-2, Porch 0-3). Rebounds SDSU 41 (DeJong 6, Loney 6), UD 23 (Nicholson 6). Fouls SDSU 15, DU 13. Fouled out SDSU Beran. DU none. Assists SDSU 18 (Hokenson 8 ). UD 20 (Carpenter 7). Steals SDSU 3 (Green 3), UD 15 (Carpenter 5). Blocked shots SDSU 0, UD 4 . Turnovers SDSU 24, UD 9. Attendance 856.
Those boys from Denver will be in for a shock when the get to Frost next year. Sad for a Saturday night game.
I thought Coach Nagy's comments in the post game show were enlightening as far as where our young Jacks stands at this point of season. He mentioned the new young kids missing defense assignments and that this was his fault in terms of coaching. I really agree this time and appreciate coach's candor. I dont think kids come out of high school with the defensive skills needed to play the first year. As he said it takes time for them to learn.
Also coach mentioned that he was having problems with 4 and 5 positions in terms of turnovers and he did praise Brady Hokenson for having his best game of his career.
The schedule has been a bear, and our kids have been much younger and inexperienced than ever before, but I think it can only get better.
I had felt if we had stayed D2, this year would also have been maybe no more than a 17-10 year because we had a large senior group and they left a many holes to fill. In short this would have been a rebuilding year.
Our guards seemed to have played really well. Both scoring in double digits. Sounds like they were a bright spot in this game, and the other players dropped the ball last night. Hopefully the guards can keep it up, and we should be able to play with some of these next d1 opponents.
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