No. 4 Arizona staying humble, prepping for upset-minded Denver

Coming off an upset win over previously unbeaten Colorado State on Friday night, Denver now has its sights on No. 4 Arizona on Monday night in Tucson, Ariz.The Pioneers (2-3) beat Colorado State 83-81 on the road behind graduate student Zane Nelson’s 22 points off the bench. The Rams were 4-0 entering the game.Nelson, a transfer from Missouri Western State, made 6 of 10 shots from the field, 3 of 4 from 3-point range and 7 of 8 from the free-throw line.First-year coach Tim Bergstraser, 34, took over a program that is moving from the Summit League to the West Coast Conference next season.He coached NCAA Division II program Minnesota State-Morehead to the Sweet 16 last season.”We’re just gonna stick our heads down and work, and I think it’s gonna attract the right kinds of people,” Bergstraser said after the win over Colorado State. “I like to believe we play the game the right way, and we play really, really tough. Our vision, moving forward, is to put DU men’s basketball on the map on a bigger scale.”Denver lost on the road against another power-conference opponent earlier this season, 84-70 to Washington on Nov. 6.Carson Johnson, a sophomore guard who followed Bergstraser from Minnesota State-Morehead to Denver, leads the Pioneers at 18.6 points per game.Arizona (5-0) enters the game against Pioneers following a 71-67 victory at No. 3 UConn last week. The Wildcats also have victories over Florida and UCLA.Arizona is the third team since 1995-96 to win three of its first five games of a season away from home against top-15 opponents. The others were Arizona’s 2001-02 team and the 2020-21 Gonzaga team.Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd tempered his enthusiasm of the victories over each of the ranked teams. UConn played without leading scorer and rebounder Tarris Reed Jr., who was out with an ankle injury. The victories over Florida and UCLA were decided in the last minute of each game.

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