Complete Game Notes

After a winter storm canceled UNO's game against York on Tuesday, the Mavericks will play just once this week in an MIAA game at Northwest Missouri State Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The game will be UNO's second true road game and the first MIAA game away from home.

Nebraska-Omaha opened the season with a six-game winning streak before Fort Hays State ended it with a 79-68 win last Saturday. Prior to that, the Mavericks (6-1, 1-1 MIAA) opened the conference season with an 80-72 win over Washburn last Wednesday. Northwest Missouri State opened its season 5-1 and 1-1 in the league and will play at Fort Hays State on Wednesday before hosting UNO. The Bearcats also topped Washburn last week, 81-73 on Saturday after losing to Emporia State, 86-81 last Wednesday.

The Mavericks are led by junior guard Tyler Bullock. He's averaging 16.9 points a game and he's led UNO in scoring in every game this year but the opener and Saturday's loss to FHSU. He had 28 at Rockhurst on November 18 and 24 against Wayne State on November 28. Senior guard Andrew Bridger leads the MIAA with 8.6 assists a game and he's reached double figures three times in assists this year.

Following The Mavericks
Fans can follow all the action Saturday on 90.7-2 KVNO HD with a high-definition radio. Fans can find live audio and live stats for both games through a link on the schedule page at www.omavs.com/mbb and Northwest Missouri will carry a live video webstream of the game through www.omavs.com/LiveVideo.
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 75-51 with a .595 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.

Northwest Missouri State coach Ben McCollum is in his first year as a head coach with a 5-1 (.833) record heading into the week. The 2003 NWMSU graduate was an assistant at Emporia State for four seasons before taking over with the Bearcats. He played two years with the Bearcats from 2001-03 and then was a graduate assistant coach for two year.

The Series
- Northwest Missouri leads the all-time series against UNO, 6-5.
- The Mavericks swept the Bearcats last year in the season series. The two also played twice the year before in their final season as non-conference opponents. They split that series.
- The two have never met in an overtime game.

Notes For The Week
- The Mavericks had a six-game, season-opening win streak snapped last week in the loss to FHSU. Tyler Bullock averaged 19.0 points a game and shot 67 percent in those first six games. He was held to just four points off a 1-of-6 performance (17 percent) in the loss to the Tigers.
- The Mavericks are second in the MIAA shooting 52 percent from the field but they are ninth with a 30 percent effort from 3-point range.
 -Andrew Bridger is third in the MIAA shooting 90 percent from the free throw line and he's made 20 of his last 21 attempts in the last three games.

Rebounds Well Distributed
Five different Mavericks have led or tied for the team lead in rebounds in UNO's first seven games. Senior forward Matt Newman has led UNO four times, including in each of the last two games. 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).
Newman leads UNO with 6.6 rebounds a game

Bain leads UNO with 6.0 rebounds a game after getting 18 of them last week. Curry and Bain are tied for second with 6.0 a game. Bain and Newman lead UNO with two double-figure rebounding games each.

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 8.4 assists a game and with just 23 turnovers, he has a 2.6 assist/turnover ratio, second 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 .897 free throw percentage. In the last three games he's made 20-21 (.951) 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 67 Percent To Start Season
Senior guard Tyler Bullock, who sat out all of last year after transferring, shot 67 percent during UNO's season-opening, six-game winning streak. He was then held to just four points in UNO's first loss of the year. He's been the leading scorer in all but the first game of the year and the loss to FHSU last week. He had a team season-high 28 points at Rockhurst on November 18 and then he had 24 against Wayne State last weekend.

He's first at UNO and ninth in the MIAA with 16.9 points a game and his .625 field goal percentage is tied with Dion Curry for third in the MIAA.

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 is the only Maverick to reach double figures in every game this year and he's shooting 63 percent from the field as UNO's starting post player. His shooting percentage is tied with Tyler Bullock for third in the MIAA. He's second on the team with 12.9 points and second with 6.0 rebounds a game.

In the last three games he's averaged 13.3 points and 8.7 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 second on the team with 6.0 rebounds a game and he's reached double figures two games with 11 against Doane and 10 at Rockhurst. He added 12 points against Doane for a double-double and he's averaging 9.4 points a game and shooting 54 percent from the field.

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 with 6.6 rebounds a game. He's led UNO in rebounding in four games and he reached double figures twice with 11 against Rockhurst and 10 against FHSU. He added 15 points against the Tigers for a double-double. This year he's scoring 8.3 points a game.

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

Martin Looks To Bounce Back After Strong Start
Junior guard Jeff Martin shot 51 percent from the field and 52 percent from 3-point range in UNO's first five games. He averaged 13.8 points a game and 3.4 made 3-pointers a game. He's been just 1-of-16 in the last two games with nine points.

Overall, Martin is averaging 11.1 points a game and shooting 39 percent from the field and long distance. He's scoring win double figures five times with a season-high 18 in the opener against Doane on November 15.

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 play just once next week as they wrap up their non-conference schedule. They'll host in-state rival Nebraska-Kearney at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, December 18. They will then have 12 days off for winter break before hosting Emporia State on December 31.