Complete Game Notes

The Mavericks will enter the second half of the MIAA season with a pair of games this week looking to stay within striking distance of the top of the league. Wednesday they will host Pittsburg State at 7:30 p.m. at Sapp Fieldhouse and Saturday they will begin the second half of the league season with a 7:30 p.m. game against Washburn at Lee Arena.

Nebraska-Omaha topped No. 16 Southwest Baptist, 99-91 last Thursday on the road before falling Saturday at Missouri Southern, 96-73. The Mavs moved to 13-3 overall and they're in a three-way tie for third in the conference at 6-3.

UNO's two opponents this week sit near the bottom of the MIAA. Pittsburg State is 7-9 overall and tied for last in the league at 1-8. The Gorillas have lost three straight, including one to Washburn last Wednesday. They also lost to Fort Hays State last week. The Ichabods are 9-8 overall and ninth in the MIAA at 3-7. They have won two straight with victories over PSU and Emporia State last week. They will be idle during the mid-week MIAA game this week before facing UNO.

Junior guard Tyler Bullock continues to lead UNO in scoring. He's fifth in the MIAA with 17.3 points a game and he's seventh with a .516 field goal percentage. Senior guard Andrew Bridger leads the MIAA with 6.5 assists a game and junior guard Jeff Martin is first with 2.9 made 3-pointers a game.

Following The Mavericks
Wednesday's game at Pittsburg State will be broadcast on 90.7 KVNO FM or online at omavs.com/KVNO. Saturday's game at Washburn will be on 90.7-2 KVNO HD or online at omavs.com/kvnoHD2. Fans can find a link to live video for both games at omavs.com/LiveVideo and fans can find free live stats at omavs.com/LiveStats for Wednesday' game or at wusports.com for Saturday's game.

Most games throughout the year will be available through 90.7 KVNO FM or 90.7-2 KVNO HD. Live stats and video will be available for the remainder of the home games and many away games. Fans can find links to all live video, audio and stats through omavs.com/wbb 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 82-53 with a .607 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.

Pittsburg State coach Gene Iba is in his 15th and final season with a 259-163 (.614) record in 15 years. He will retire at the end of this season. In 30 years overall as a coach, he's 485-366 (.570). Prior to coming to PSU, he led Baylor to a 98-107 record in seven seasons and he coached Houston Baptist to a 128-96 record in eight years. He's a 1963 graduate of Tulsa and he worked for his uncle, Henry Hank Iba at Oklahoma State while working on his master's.

Washburn coach Bob Chipman is in his 31st season as a coach, all with the Ichabods and he has a 671-272 (.716) record. The 1973 Kansas State graduate coached Washburn to the NAIA national championship in 1986-87 and his 2000-01 team finished second in the NCAA. He has coached Washburn to nine MIAA titles and 10 trips to the NCAA tournament.

The Series
- Pittsburg State leads the series with the Mavericks, 21-14.
- Nebraska-Omaha topped PSU, 86-78 in the regular season finale but the Gorillas beat UNO, 88-86 in overtime earlier in the year.
- Prior to last year, the two hadn't met since 1994-95. The series began in 1954-55.
- The two have met twice in overtime and each team has one win.
- Washburn leads the series with UNO, 25-17. The two teams split their games last year with the home team winning each time. The Mavs won by five points, 93-88 at Sapp Fieldhouse and the Ichabods won by a point, 84-83 in Lee Arena.
- The two have met in overtime twice with each team getting a win. The last was a WU victory in 1986-87.

Mavs Went 2-2 Against Teams in Front of or Tied with Them
The Mavericks begin the week in a tie for third place in the MIAA with Southwest Baptist and Missouri Western, two teams UNO beat in the first half of the conference season. Ahead of those third-place teams are first-place Fort Hays State and second-place Central Missouri. The Mavs fell to both those teams.

The Mavericks will have to play three of those four teams on the road in the second half of the schedule. Southwest Baptist is the only team UNO will host among that group. The Mavs upset SBU on the road last week and went 1-2 at home against the other three schools.

Andrew Bridger led UNO in scoring in the four games against those teams with 14.8 points a game. Tyler Bullock, UNO's leading scorer overall with 17.3 points a game, was held to 10.8 points a game against them.

Mavericks Earn Votes Again In National Poll
For the second straight week, the Mavericks earned votes in the National Association of Basketball Coaches national poll. Nebraska-Omaha earned six points in the poll released January 12, putting the Mavs three points shy of cracking the top 25. A new poll is schedule for release this Tuesday.

Rebounds Well Distributed
Three different Mavericks are in the top 12 in rebounding in the MIAA, each averaging 5.9 a game or better. Eugene Bain is first on the team and sixth in the MIAA with 7.3 rebounds a game. Matt Newman is second on the team and tied for 10th in the MIAA with 6.0 and Dion Curry is third on the team and 12th in the conference with 5.9 a game.

These three players have coupled big scoring nights with big rebound nights to give them at least three double-doubles each. Bain had 14 points and 13 rebounds January 9 against Central Missouri for his team-leading fourth double-double of the year. Newman and Curry each have three double-doubles.

Bridger Nears Big Career Milestone
Winding down his career, senior guard Andrew Bridger is currently 38 points away from joining the 1,000 point club. If he gets to 1,000, he will become just the third Maverick to score at least 1,000 points with at least 400 assists and 100 steals. Dean Thompson (1980-84) and Calvin Kapels (2002-06) are the two Mavs in the 1,000 points/400 assists/100 steals club. Bridger is currently fifth at UNO with 417 assists and seventh with 144 steals.

Bridger Leads MIAA in Assists
Andrew Bridger has five double-figure assist games this year and he leads the MIAA with 6.5 assists a game. His assists average was ninth best in the nation through January 10. The Mavericks are 5-0 when Bridger gets 10 or more assists and 8-0 when he gets six or more. The Mavericks are 5-3 when he's held to five or less assists.

Bridger is fifth in the MIAA with a 2.0 assist/turnover ratio and he's only had more turnovers than assists twice this year.

Bridger is fourth on the team averaging 11.6 points a game. He's leading the team and he's fourth in the MIAA with an .843 free throw percentage.

Bullock Near The Top In Shooting, Scoring
Senior guard Tyler Bullock is shooting .516 from the field, seventh best in the MIAA. He's leading the team and he's fifth in the conference with 17.3 points a game. Bullock has led UNO in scoring 11 times and he's reached double figures 13 times. The Mavericks are 6-0 when he scores 20 or more points.

Bullock has perhaps been more effective on the road for UNO. He's averaging 20.2 points a game in the Mavs' five away games and shooting .521 from the field. He's just as accurate at home with a .518 field goal percentage, but he's been held to 15.0 points a game. Three of Bullock's 20-point games have come on the road.

Curry Scoring Big Inside For UNO
Senior forward Dion Curry scored in double figures in 11 of the first 13 games this year and was averaging 13.0 points a game at that time. Since then he's been kept to single figures in each of the last three games but he's still third on the team with 11.9 points a game. He's third with 5.9 rebounds a game and he has three double-figure rebound games, all resulting in double-doubles. Curry is second on the team shooting 56 percent for UNO.

Bain Strong Off The Boards And To The Hoop
Junior forward Eugene Bain leads the team with 7.3 rebounds a game and he's fifth with 9.3 points a game. His rebounding total is sixth in the MIAA. Bain has five double-figure rebound games this year and four double-doubles. He had 14 points and 13 rebounds against then-No. 1 Central Missouri earlier this month.

Martin Continues Hot Shooting
Junior guard Jeff Martin leads the MIAA with 2.9 made 3-pointers a game and he's sixth in the conference shooting .438 from long range. Overall, Martin is averaging 12.4 points a game and shooting 43 percent from the field and 44 percent from 3-point range.

Martin opened the year by reaching double figures in scoring in each of the first five games. After two games in single digits, he's since scored 10 or more in eight of the last nine. Overall, he  is tied for the team lead with 13 double-figure scoring games.

Newman Strong Off The Boards And Strong Off The Bench
Senior forward Matt Newman is UNO's leading scorer off the bench with 130 points and 8.7 a game and he's also the leading rebounder off the bench with 85 and 5.7 a game. Newman has six double-figure scoring games, four double-figure rebounding games and three double-doubles.

In his one start this year, Newman had a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds against Nebraska-Kearney on December 18. He followed that with another double-double, this time off the bench against Emporia State.

Coming Up
The Mavericks will head to No. 6 Fort Hays State on Wednesday, January 27, looking to avenge an 11-point loss to the Tigers earlier in the year. They will be idle during the Saturday MIAA game.