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The Mavericks will begin the 2009-10 season with an exhibition at Creighton  Sunday at 2:05 p.m. at Qwest Center Omaha. Five returning letterwinners, including two returning starters will take on the Bluejays, the co-Missouri Valley Conference champions last year.

The Records
Nebraska-Omaha went 17-11 overall last year and finished tied for fifth in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association with an 11-9 record. The Mavericks were the No. 5 seed in the MIAA postseason tournament and they fell to Fort Hays State in the opening round.  The Mavs had their second straight winning season and seventh in the last 10 years.

The Bluejays went 27-8 last year and tied Northern Iowa for the top spot in the MVC regular season. The Jays fell in the semifinal of the MVC postseason tournament. They advanced to the National Invitation Tournament and beat Bowling Green in the opening round before falling to Kentucky in the second round. They hosted both games.

Following The Mavericks
MavRadio will provide play-by-play of the exhibition Sunday. Fans can tune in on a high-definition radio tuner to KVNO 90.7-2 HD or listen to the broadcast online at www.omavs.com/kvnoHD2.

Fans can link to live video and live stats of Sunday's game at Creighton through www.omavs.com/mbb by going to the schedule page. CU will provide live stats for free while live video is available through a subscription.

Most games throughout the year will be available through KVNO 90.7 FM or KVNO 90.7-2 HD. Live video and live stats will be available for all home games and many away games. Fans can find links to all live video, audio and stats through www.omavs.com/mbb on the schedule page.

The Coaches
UNO head coach #Derrin Hansen# begins his fifth year at Nebraska-Omaha and overall as a head coach. He is 69-50 with a .580 winning percentage. His winning percentage ranks fourth all-time among UNO coaches with at least four years at the school. Hansen served as the assistant coach at UNO from 1998-2005 before taking over for the 2005-06 season.

Hansen is a 1991 graduate of Nebraska Wesleyan. He played for the Plainsmen and helped lead them to the Division III semifinal in 1987-88. He coached high school for two seasons after graduating and then spent two years at Nebraska-Kearney from 1993-95 as a graduate assistant and two years at Mid-Plains CC from 1995-98.

Creighton coach Dana Altman is 392-160 (.659) in 20 years as an NCAA head coach. He went 309-160 (.659) in 15 years at CU, starting with the 1994-95 season. Prior to that he went 68-54 in four seasons at Kansas State from 1990-1994 and he went 15-13 in one season at Marshall in 1989-90.  Altman was the MVC coach of the year in 2001 and 2002 and the Big Eight coach of the year in 1993 at KSU.

The Series
Creighton leads the all-time series, 32-3, but the two have not met in the regular season since a 74-71 CU win on November 30, 1995. The Mavericks' last win against the Jays was a 56-45 victory in 1982-83. The Bluejays have won all five of the exhibition contests against UNO since the 2000 season. They won the last preseason meeting, 73-56 in 2006.

Coming Up
The Mavericks will open the 2009-10 regular season the minute the NCAA will allow them to. They host Doane at 12:01 a.m. on Sunday, November 15 at Sapp Fieldhouse. NCAA rules allow teams to play no earlier than that Sunday unless they are playing in an exempt tournament.

The Tigers and Mavericks have played 49 times with UNO holding a 39-10 lead in the all-time series. Last year UNO beat Doane, 93-50 in the season opener and the Mavs have won five straight against Doane.

2009-10 Season Outlook
Losing a majority of the points from last year doesn't always have to be a bad thing. For head coach Derrin Hansen, it means more opportunities for the talented returners and his large crop of new players to score baskets and grab rebounds.

Hansen will return two starters and five total letterwinners in 2009-10. He will also be able to plug in the lineup four redshirts who had all last year to develop, three community college transfers and four freshmen out of high school.

Hansen believes that if his team can stay healthy then he can use the depth to do more things on offense and defense that he wasn't able to do last year. The Mavericks went 17-11 last year and finished tied for fifth in the MIAA at 11-9.

The Guards
Hansen's leading returning scorer will be relied on to do more than just put points on the board. Senior guard #Andrew Bridger# will once again be looked at to run the point and be the quarterback of the offense. With three years of experience as a starter, he has learned not only where he should be on the court, but also where his entire team should be.

Bridger averaged 11.5 points a game last year and he was third in the MIAA with 4.46 assists a game. He scored in double figures 15 times with a season-high 22 points on December 3 at Washburn.
Also returning as a guard will be Jeff Martin. The junior played in just five games last year before a broken ankle kept him out the rest of the year. Hansen said he is fully recovered and ready to pick up where he left off. Last year he averaged 9.6 points a game after getting 18 and 15 in the first two games of the year.

#Aaron Terry# returns for his junior year after playing in 26 of 28 games last year. He averaged 3.8 points a game and Hansen hopes that by having him concentrate on the wing position, he can increase his productivity.

Four new players will compete for time at guard position.

Junior #Jamel LeBranch# transferred to UNO from Central Community College. He averaged 12.5 points, 6.7 assists and 5.3 rebounds a game and Hansen hopes he can play some productive minutes as point guard. He earned first team all-Region 9 honors and first team all-conference honors both years.

#Torrian Harris# is also a junior transfer. He was second team All-America and the conference most valuable player at Lansing Community College. In two years of junior college basketball he scored 985 points to average 21 a game. Hansen saw good things from him in preseason practices and he believes he should be able to give UNO a lot of minutes at a wing spot.

Junior guard #Tyler Bullock# will look for his first action as a Maverick. He sat out last year after transferring from Nebraska-Kearney and Denver. Hansen is looking for good things from him after he started all 29 games for the Division I Pioneers in 2006-07 and averaged 11.0 points a game.

Freshman #Pete Uhing# came to UNO after playing three seasons at Lincoln High School. He shot 45 percent from 3-point range his senior year.

The Forwards
Two seniors will return to the forward position at UNO and four newcomers will join them looking for playing time.

#Dion Curry# played in all 28 games last year and made 24 starts. He averaged 9.4 points a game and 5.4 rebounds. Hansen remarked that he had a good junior year and he hopes he can improve his numbers on offense and defense to have a strong finish to his career.

#Matt Newman# played in 19 games and started four last year. He scored 5.2 points a game with 3.1 rebounds, all while gaining a lot of experience at his position. Hansen thinks he's ready to have a breakout senior year.

#John Ring# will return for his sophomore year after playing in 12 games last year with 1.8 points a game.
The rest of the minutes at forward will either be filled by freshmen, redshirts or transfers.

Junior #Eugene Bain#, a transfer from North Platte Community College, will be looked upon to step on the court and continue to put up the big numbers he had in junior college. He averaged 16.9 points a game with 11.2 rebounds to help him earn NJCAA second team All-America.

Freshman #Matt Hagerbaumer# will start his college career after playing three of four seasons at Lincoln Southeast High School. He blocked 81 shots his senior season as the Knights finished third in the state. Hagerbaumer missed his junior year with an injury.

Another freshman, #Jake Anderson#, led Council Bluffs St. Albert High School his final two seasons in blocks. He finished third in his class with 60 blocks his senior year and had 130 in his career.

Freshman #Josh Lynch# came to UNO last year from Elkhorn High School. He took a very productive redshirt last year after averaging 15.2 points and 12.1 rebounds a game his senior year.

Junior #Matthew Starks# also sat out last year and took a medical redshirt with a knee injury. He transferred from UNK and played in 13 games in two years there.

#Alex Welhouse# sat out last year and will be a redshirt freshman this season. He averaged 21.7 points and 5.0 rebounds a game at Kaukauna High School in Kaukauna, Wis. He set schools records with 37 points in a game and a 90 percent single-season free throw percentage.

Freshman #John Karhoff# will also enter his first season at UNO as a forward. He missed his senior season with a knee injury. The year before that he was honorable mention all-state and an all-Metro selection.