Complete Game Notes

The Mavericks will look to bounce back from their fourth MIAA loss by handing Fort Hays State its first MIAA loss as the two face off this week. Nebraska-Omaha will play the No. 5 Tigers Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at Gross Memorial Coliseum.

The Mavericks split a pair of games last week as they topped Pittsburg State at home Wednesday, 83-59 and then fell Saturday at Washburn, 60-49. They moved to 14-4 overall and are in a three-way tie for third place in the MIAA with a 7-4 mark.

Fort Hays State, which earned one first-place vote in last week's poll, is 16-1 overall and first in the MIAA at 10-0. The Tigers topped Emporia State last Wednesday, 69-65 on the road and they have been idle since. FHSU's only loss this year was by seven points at Kansas State, currently ranked No. 11 in the NCAA I AP poll.

Senior guard Andrew Bridger enters the week 15 points away from 1,000 in his career. 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 fourth at UNO with 425 assists and seventh with 147 steals.

Following The Mavericks
Wednesday's game at Fort Hays State will be broadcast on 90.7 KVNO FM and online at omavs.com/KVNO. Fans can find a link to live video at omavs.com/LiveVideo and fans can find free live stats at fhsuathletics.com/livestats for Wednesday' 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/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 83-54 with a .606 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.

FHSU coach Mark Johnson is 174-76 (.696) in his ninth year with the Tigers and overall as a head coach. He is a 1993 graduate of Pittsburg State where he earned all-MIAA honors in both his seasons with the Gorillas.

The Series
- Fort Hays State leads the all-time series against UNO, 25-12 since 1951-52 when records became available.
- The Tigers won earlier this season in Omaha, 79-68.
- Last year the teams split their regular season meeting and then the Tigers ended UNO's season in the MIAA tournament.

Mavs in Three-Way Tie For Third in MIAA
The Mavericks are in a three-way tie for third in the MIAA at 7-4 with Southwest Baptist and Missouri Western. UNO plays at MIAA No. 1 Fort Hays State Wednesday and then is idle on Saturday. SBU is idle for the mid-week game and then hosts MIAA No. 6 Missouri Southern. MWSU plays twice this week, at No. 9 ESU Wednesday and against No. 7 Washburn Saturday.

Rebounds Well Distributed
Three different Mavericks are in the top 13 in rebounding in the MIAA, each averaging 5.5 a game or better. Eugene Bain is first on the team and fifth in the MIAA with 7.3 rebounds a game. Dion Curry is second on the team and 10th in the MIAA with 6.2 a game and Matt Newman is third on the team and 13th in the league with 5.5 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 Leads MIAA in Assists
Andrew Bridger has five double-figure assist games this year and he leads the MIAA with 6.2 assists a game. His assists average was 14th best in the nation through January 24. The Mavericks are 5-0 when Bridger gets 10 or more assists and 8-0 when he gets six or more. The Mavericks are 6-4 when he's held to five or less assists.

Bridger is fourth 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 fifth in the MIAA with an .851 free throw percentage. He's made 21 of 22 (.955) free throws in the final five minutes of games this year.

Bullock Near The Top In Shooting, Scoring
Senior guard Tyler Bullock is shooting .507 from the field, eighth best in the MIAA. He's leading the team and he's seventh in the conference with 16.9 points a game. Bullock has led UNO in scoring 11 times and he's reached double figures 13 times. The Mavericks are 7-0 when he scores 20 or more points. 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 five games but he's still third on the team with 11.4 points a game. He's second with 6.2 rebounds a game and he has four double-figure rebound games with three resulting in double-doubles. Curry is second on the team shooting 55 percent for UNO.

Bain Strong Off the Boards and Strong to the Hoop
Junior forward Eugene Bain leads the team with 7.3 rebounds a game and he's fifth with 8.8 points a game. His rebounding average is fifth 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 is tied for first in the MIAA with 2.8 made 3-pointers a game and he's eighth in the conference shooting .413 from long range. Overall, Martin is averaging 11.8 points a game and shooting 41 percent from the field and 41 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 11. Overall, he  is second on 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 134 points and 7.9 a game and he's also the leading rebounder off the bench with 88 and 5.2 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.

Harris Strong Off The Bench and Strong On the Road
Junior guard Torrian Harris is averaging 7.3 points a game and she's scored in double figures in three of the last four games. During that stretch she's averaging right at 10.0 points a game and shooting 57 percent.

Harris has five total double-figure scoring games this year and three of them have come in MIAA games on the road. In those games he scored 20 points at NWMSU, 12 at SBU and 10 at Washburn. Overall, he's averaging 10.0 points a game on the road and shooting 61 percent.

Coming Up
The Mavericks will begin the final month of the regular season at home on Wednesday, February 3, against Northwest Missouri State. They will then play at Emporia State on Saturday, February 6.