Complete Game Notes

For the 45th straight season the Mavericks and Lopers will face each other on the hard court as the two play Friday at 7:30 p.m. at UNO's Sapp Fieldhouse. Nebraska-Omaha enters the match at 8-1 overall while Nebraska-Kearney comes in at 6-4.

The two teams have played 58 times in the last 44 years, dating back to 1965-66. UNK leads the all-time series, 29-28-1 but the Mavericks have won four of the last five. The Mavericks won last year's battle in Kearney, 89-68 on November 17.

The Mavericks went 2-0 last week with a 104-87 win at Northwest Missouri State Saturday and a 90-72 win against York on Sunday. Nebraska-Kearney went 1-1 with an 86-76 win at Adams State Friday and an 85-70 loss at Fort Lewis Saturday.

The Mavericks are led by junior guard Tyler Bullock. He's averaging 18.0 points a game and he's led UNO in scoring in all but two games this year. Senior guard Andrew Bridger leads the MIAA with 7.3 assists a game and he's reached double figures three times in assists this year.

Following The Mavericks
Fans can follow all the action Friday on 90.7-2 KVNO HD with a high-definition radio. Fans can find live audio online through www.omavs.com/kvnoHD2 and they can file live state through www.omavs.com/LiveStats.

Most games throughout the year will be available through 90.7 KVNO FM or 90.7-2 KVNO HD. 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 is in his fifth year at Nebraska-Omaha and overall as a head coach. He is 77-51 with a .602 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.

Nebraska-Kearney's Tom Kropp and Kevin Lofton are co-head coaches with the Lopers. Kropp is in his 30th season as a member of the UNK staff and he's 406-167 (.709) as a head coach. The UNK graduate played basketball and football and he was drafted by the NFL, NBA and the American Basketball Association after his college career. He signed with the NBA's Washington Bullets and played into a third season before finishing his career in Europe.

The Series
- UNK leads the all-time series, 29-28-1 but the Mavs have won the last two and four of the last five.
- The two teams have played each other at least once every year since the 1965-66 season.
- The Lopers won 11 straight in the series from 1992-93 through 1998-99. Prior to that, UNO had won six straight.
- UNO coach Derrin Hansen is 3-1 against UNK.
- UNO is 1-0-1 against UNK in overtime games.

Notes For The Week
- Senior guard Bridger is third in the MIAA with a .911 free throw percentage. In the last five games he's made 35 of 37 (.946) free throws with two 6-for-6 performances.
- Junior guard Tyler Bullock is averaging 21.7 points a game in the seven games he's led UNO in scoring. In the other two games he's averaging just 5.0 points a game.
- Senior forward Dion Curry had reached double figures in every game this year until he had nine last Sunday against York.

Rebounds Well Distributed
Five different Mavericks have led or tied for the team lead in rebounds in UNO's first nine games. Senior forward Matt Newman has led UNO four times, Dion Curry has led UNO twice while Eugene Bain, Tyler Bullock and Josh Lynch have led or shared the lead once each. Five different times those top rebounders have come off the bench (Newman four times and Lynch once).

Curry and Bain are tied for the team lead with 6.4 rebounds a game and Matt Newman is behind then with 6.3, all off the bench. As a team, the Mavs are third in the MIAA with 39.8 rebounds a game and third with a +7.3 rebounding margin.

Bridger Unselfish And Well-Rounded
Head coach Derrin Hansen pointed out before the season started that Andrew Bridger will have to do more than just score baskets when he's running UNO's offense. The senior point guard has been able to shoot and draw fouls to score for UNO and he also has produced opportunities for the rest of his team with assists.

He leads the MIAA with 7.3 assists a game and with just 27 turnovers, he has a 2.4 assist/turnover ratio, the best in the MIAA. In the opener against Doane he had a double-double with 11 points and 11 assists and at Rockhurst he had 10 assists to reach double figures for the second straight time and then he did it one more time with 12 on November 27 against Chadron State.

Bridger is third in the MIAA with a .911 free throw percentage. In the last five games he's made 35 of 37 (.946) free throws with two 6-for-6 performances.

Bridger is UNO's leading returning scorer from last year. He averaged 11.5 points a game and shot 82 percent from the free throw line. Both of those totals were second best on the team last year. He led the team with 125 assists and he is currently sixth with 359 career assists. Another season with at least 100 will move him into the top five.

Bullock Shooting 61 Percent To Start Season
Senior guard Tyler Bullock, who sat out all of last year after transferring, is shooting .611 from the field and leading the team with 18.0 points a game. He's been the leading scorer in all but the first game of the year and the loss to FHSU two weeks ago. He had a team season-high 28 points at Rockhurst on November 18 and he had 25 at Northwest Missouri last weekend.

The Mavericks are 7-0 when he leads them in scoring. Minus the two games he didn't lead UNO in scoring, he's averaging 21.7 points a game and shooting 64 percent. In those other two games he's averaging 5.0 points and shooting 40 percent.

Bullock is one of three Mavericks who was at Nebraska-Kearney before coming to UNO. He did not play for the Lopers but prior to that, he was a starter at Denver. He started all 29 games for the Division I Pioneers in 2006-07 and averaged 11.0 points a game.

Curry Keeps On Scoring Inside For UNO
Senior forward Dion Curry reached double figures in scoring in every game this year except Sunday's win over York. He scored nine points in that game off a 4-of-5 performance in 18 minutes on the floor. This year he's averaging 13.0 points a game and he's tied for the team lead with 6.4 rebounds a game. He's second in the MIAA with a .639 field goal percentage.

Curry has two double-doubles this year. He recorded one last Saturday at Northwest Missouri State with 18 points and 11 rebounds and on November 28 he had one with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
Curry started 24 of 28 games last year and scored 9.4 points a game with 5.4 rebounds.

Bain Strong Off The Boards
Junior forward Eugene Bain is tied with Dion Curry for the team lead with 6.4 rebounds a game. Last Sunday against York he had his second double-double with 11 rebounds and 15 points. He also had a double-double with 11 rebounds and 12 points in the season-opener against Doane.

Bain is averaging 9.3 points a game and shooting 55 percent from the field. He's scored in double figures five times this year and he's reached double figures in rebounding three times.

Bain played at North Platte Community College for two seasons and averaged 16.9 points a game and 11.2 rebounds last year. His rebound average was No. 10 in the nation and he earned NJCAA second team All-America.

Newman Strong Off The Boards And Strong Off The Bench
Senior forward Matt Newman has come off the bench to lead UNO in rebounding four times this year and he's third on the team with 6.3 rebounds a game. He's also scoring 8.1 points a game and shooting 54 percent. He's UNO's leader off the bench in total points (73) and he's second in points per game and shooting percentage.

Newman has reached double figures in rebounds twice with 11 against Rockhurst and 10 against FHSU. He added 15 points against the Tigers for a double-double.

Newman averaged 3.1 rebounds a game last year and 5.2 points and 3.1 rebounds in 19 games with four starts.

Martin Bouncing Back
Junior guard Jeff Martin shot 51 percent from the field and 52 percent from 3-point range in UNO's first five games this year. He averaged 13.8 points a game and 3.4 made 3-pointers a game. After that he went 1-of-16 from the field through two games before bouncing back with 29 points in his two games last week.
Overall, Martin is averaging 11.9 points a game and shooting 41 percent from the field and 40 percent from 3-point range. The two games two weeks ago when he only had one field goal were the only two when he didn't reach double figures. In the other seven games he's scoring 14.0 points a game and shooting 49 percent from the field and 3-point range.

Martin played in UNO's first five games last year before a broken ankle forced him to miss the rest of the season and get a medical redshirt. He averaged 9.6 points a game and shot 53 percent in those five games. He played his first two seasons at UNK and averaged 13.5 points a game his sophomore year as a full-time starter with the Lopers.

Coming Up
The Mavericks will have 12 days off for winter break before hosting Emporia State on December 31 at 2 p.m. at Sapp Fieldhouse. They will then host Missouri Western on January 2 to wrap up a four-game homestand.