DU Pioneers fall one win short of first March Madness berth with loss in Summit League Tournament championship

The 2024 Summit League Basketball Championship game at the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The DU men’s basketball team fell to South Dakota State, 76-68, in the Summit League Tournament championship on Tuesday in Sioux Falls, S.D. It put the Pioneers one victory short of making the program’s first NCAA Tournament, as a win over the Jackrabbits would’ve secured a March Madness berth via an automatic bid as the conference champion.

“South Dakota State proved to be the class of the league during the regular season, and they put an exclamation point on it tonight by winning the tournament,” DU head coach Jeff Wulbrun said. “I thought their physicality and level of toughness in the first half, it was a little overpowering. They just seemed quicker to the 50/50 balls, they seemed quicker on defense, we had trouble getting into the lane and they made it difficult to run our offense.

“We spotted them too big of lead, but I’m very proud of the resiliency my guys showed,” Wulbrun said. “That’s kind of who we’ve been all season long.” The program won 11 games in 2021-22, then 15 last year, and this year’s 17-win tally is the most victories since they posted 22 in 2012-13, when the Pioneers played a season in the WAC before joining the Summit. Tuesday also marked the Pioneers’ first appearance in the Summit League Tournament championship in Denver’s decade in the league.

Along the way, Bruner emerged as a bonafide star, although the fifth-year senior’s Division I scoring title is in jeopardy as the season winds down. Purdue’s Zach Edey is also averaging 24.2 points per game. The Boilermakers play in the Big Ten Tournament this weekend, giving the center a chance to cement his leapfrog of Bruner.Letters: Russell Wilson wasn't the problem. Here's who should have been sacked.

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