Carson Johnson and the Denver men’s basketball team just couldn’t get over the hump.
After trailing by as many as 14 points, the visiting Pioneers rallied in the second half and closed to within three points before Omaha held on for an 83-76 victory on Sunday afternoon before a crowd of 3,291 at Baxter Arena.
“We came out kind of slow. We were fighting back from out of a hole from there,” said Johnson, a former Ankeny star. “We just didn’t come ready to play. They played a good game, but we’ve just got to be better coming out of the gate.”
Omaha (7-6, 14-14) moved into fourth place in the Summit League standings while completing a sweep of the Pioneers (6-7, 13-15). The Mavericks had won the first meeting at Denver, 84-82, on Jan. 31.
In Sunday’s rematch, Omaha made its first six shots from the field–three of them from 3-point range–and raced out to a 16-8 lead at the under-16 timeout. The Mavericks went 7-of-12 from deep while building a 49-38 advantage at halftime.
Lance Waddles led five Omaha players in double figures with 21 points. He went a perfect 6-of-6 from behind the arc.
“We needed to know our assignments,” Johnson said. “We got a little loose with the details. Not everyone did their job today. Everyone could have better, me included.”
Johnson played 38 of the 40 minutes in the loss. The sophomore guard finished with 17 points, three rebounds and four assists.
Johnson went 8-of-18 from the field, but he connected for just one 3-pointer in eight attempts. It was his 74th triple of the season, moving him into a tie with Joe Rosga (2016-17) for ninth in Denver’s DI history.
Johnson made a step-back jumper with 6 minutes 7 seconds left that was initially ruled a 3-point goal. It would have allowed him to reach the 1,000-point mark for his college career, but the basket was later changed to a two-pointer–leaving him at 999 career points.
However, Johnson later drove for a layup with 1:23 remaining to reach the milestone in just 51 career games.
“That’s pretty cool,” Johnson said. “A lot of work goes into it, so that’s a cool accomplishment. But I would’ve rather gotten the win.”
Johnson played his freshman year at Minnesota State Moorhead, where he became a star at the NCAA Division II level after his redshirt was pulled a few days before Christmas.
Johnson helped the Dragons to a 25-9 record and led his team to the championship of the NSIC Tournament, becoming the first freshman to earn MVP honors. He averaged a team-high 19.8 points on 41.8 percent shooting from behind the arc over the last 23 games.
After MSU Moorhead coach Tim Bergstraser was hired to take over the Denver program, Johnson followed his coach to the Mile High City.
“There’s definitely been a learning curve going up against bigger and stronger athletes (in Division I),” said Johnson, who scored 18 points in a loss at then-No. 2 Arizona on Nov. 24. “With that there will be a little bit of a learning curve. It’s just been the same amount of work. I knew I’d be ready for it.”
Johnson has continued to score at a prolific rate. He currently ranks among the top 50 players in Division I with an average of 19.5 points a game.
Johnson reached double figures on Sunday for the 16th straight game, the 26th time this season and the 46th time in his career. He has 546 points this season, putting him 15 points behind Yemi Nicholson (2004-05) for fourth in Denver’s DI single-season history.
Although Omaha enjoyed a distinct home-court advantage at Baxter Arena, Johnson also had some fans in the crowd.
“A lot of my family came to support, so that was cool to see,” he said.
