Pios fall one win short of first March Madness

The Pioneers will have to wait to audition as Cinderella.

The DU men’s basketball team fell to South Dakota State, 76-68, in the Summit League Tournament championship on Tuesday in Sioux Falls.

It put the Pioneers one victory short of making the program’s first NCAA Tournament, as a win over the Jackrabbits would’ve secured an NCAA Tournament berth via an automatic bid as the conference champion.

The Pioneers (17-17) started slow and could never fully find their rhythm in any facet of the game until it was too late.

South Dakota State jumped out to a 22-5 lead within the first 10 minutes, and the Jackrabbits led the entire way as DU’S star point guard Tommy Bruner couldn’t get into his usual groove while battling the effects of a lingering ankle injury.

Bruner, who led the nation at 24.2 points per game coming in, still ended up with 17 points but the Pioneers shot the ball poorly for most of the night (38.2% from the field, 30.6% from three) and their defense didn’t carry them as it had through the first two games of the tournament.

The Pioneers made a late run, cutting South Dakota State’s lead to single digits with 1:53 left, but the deficit (23 points at one point) was too great to overcome.

And the Jackrabbits had an advantage in the paint for most of the night, finishing with a 3428 scoring advantage there.

Still, even while missing out on a trip to March Madness by one win, 2023-24 was an overall success for a program that’s been revived under third-year coach Jeff Wulbrun.

The Pioneers were 2-19 the season before Wulbrun took over, but since then, DU’S arrow keeps going up.

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.