Complete Game Notes

The Mavericks travel to Truman Wednesday for a 7:30 p.m. MIAA match-up before heading home to face No. 1-ranked Central Missouri, Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at Sapp Fieldhouse.

Nebraska-Omaha earned votes in this week's NABC national poll and sits at 11-1 overall and fourth in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association at 4-1. The Bulldogs are 3-10 and 10th in the league at 1-5 while the Mules are 12-1 overall and tied for second in the conference at 5-1. The Mavericks and Mules are two of four teams with no more than one loss in MIAA play.

Nebraska-Omaha went 2-0 last week to extend its winning streak to five games. The Mavs beat Emporia State on New Year's Eve, 83-72 and then they topped Missouri Western, 82-62 on January 2. Truman extended its losing streak to six games with losses last week to two teams ahead of UNO in the standings; Southwest Baptist and Fort Hays State. The Mules won twice last week to span their season-opening win streak to 12 games. They then had it ended this week on Monday at the hands of FHSU, 81-71 at home.

Junior guard Tyler Bullock continues to lead UNO in scoring with 17.5 points per game, seventh best in the MIAA at the start of the week. He's scored in double figures in 10 of UNO's 12 games and he's led the team in scoring in those eight games. Forwards Eugene Bain and Matt Newman are leading UNO with 6.8 rebounds a game.

Following The Mavericks
Wednesday's game at Truman will be broadcast on 90.7 KVNO FM or online at omavs.com/KVNO. Saturday's game against UCM 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 gobulldogs.truman.edu for Wednesday's game or at omavs.com/LiveStats 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 will be available for all 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 80-51 with a .611 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.

Truman State's Jack Schrader is 156-243 (.394) in his 15th season with the Bulldogs. He has led TSU to seven MIAA tournament in 14 years and in 1998-99 he led the team to the MIAA postseason tournament title and to the NCAA semifinal. The Arizona State graduate was an assistant at Truman before being named head coach in 1995-96.

UCM's Kim Anderson is 170-60 (.739) in his eighth season with the Mules. Last year his team won the MIAA tournament and advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight with a South Central Region tournament title. Anderson served as an assistant commissioner of the Big 12 Conference and he was an assistant coach at Missouri and Baylor. Anderson was the Big 8 player of the year in 1977 with the Tigers and he scored 1,289 points in his career.

The Series
- Truman leads the all-time series against UNO, 8-7 but the Mavs swept both games last year in MIAA action.
- The series began in 1955-56 and the two have never met in overtime.
- UCM leads the all-time series against UNO, 4-2. Each team won its home game last year.
- Prior to last year's MIAA meetings, the two hadn't met since the 1977-78 season.
- The series began in 1967-68 and the two teams have never met in an overtime game.

Top Portion Of MIAA Set To Battle This Week
The top four teams in the MIAA have one loss or less the week and various matches between the four teams are scheduled for this week. Fort Hays State leads the league at 6-0 while Central Missouri and Southwest Baptist are second at 5-1. UNO is fourth at 4-1.

The Mavs and Mules will play Saturday, as will SBU and FHSU. The Tigers already knocked of UCM Monday for the Mules' first loss of the season.

Mavericks Earn Votes In National Poll
For the first time this season, the Mavericks earned votes in the National Association of Basketball Coaches national poll. Nebraska-Omaha earned seven points in the poll released Tuesday afternoon, putting the Mavs five points shy of cracking the top 25.

The Mavericks will head to Truman Wednesday evening before returning home to welcome top-ranked Central Missouri to Sapp Fieldhouse, Saturday at 3:30 p.m. The Mules were 12-0 before falling Monday to No. 10 Fort Hays State.

Nebraska-Omaha is 11-1 overall with a five-game winning streak going. The Mavs' only loss came on December 5 to Fort Hays State.

Rebounds Well Distributed
Five different Mavericks have led or tied for the team lead in rebounds in UNO's first 12 games. Senior forward Matt Newman has led UNO six times, Eugene Bain has led four times, Dion Curry three times, while Tyler Bullock and Josh Lynch have led or shared the lead once each. Seven different times those top rebounders have come off the bench (Newman six times and Lynch once).

Three different Mavericks are averaging 5.8 rebounds a game or more. Bain and Newman are tied for the team lead with 6.8 rebounds a game. Dion Curry is right behind them with 5.8 a game. All three are in the top 12 in the conference in rebounding.

In the latest MIAA statistics report, the Mavs were first with 40.1 rebounds a game. They are third with a +7.2 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 has 86 assists this year and he leads the MIAA with 7.2 assists a game. With just 40 turnovers, he has a 2.2 assist/turnover ratio, third best in the MIAA. Last week against Missouri Western he got his fourth double-figure assist game this year with a career-high 13. 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 again with 12 on November 27 against Chadron State.

Bridger is fourth on the team averaging 11.3 points a game. He's leading the team and he's third in the MIAA with an .852 free throw percentage.

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 399 career assists. He is one away from becoming the sixth Maverick to reach 400 career assists and he's seven away from reaching the top five in UNO career history.

Bullock Near The Top In Shooting, Scoring
Senior guard Tyler Bullock, who sat out all of last year after transferring, is shooting .571 from the field, fifth best in the MIAA. He's leading the team and he's seventh in the conference with 17.5 points a game. Bullock was UNO's leading scorer in nine straight games until that streak was ended last week. He still scored in double-figures in both games last week and has done so in 10 of 12 games.

Minus the two games he didn't reach double figures, he's averaging 20.0 points a game and shooting 59 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 the first eight games this year for UNO. This year he's averaging 12.6 points a game and he's third with 5.8 rebounds a game. Curry has two double-doubles this year. He recorded one December 12 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 for the team lead with 81 rebounds and 6.8 a game. He's also scoring big with 8.8 points a game and he's had three double-doubles this year, including two straight. December 18 he had 11 rebounds and 12 points against UNK and December 13 against York he had one 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 shooting 57 percent from the field. He's scored in double figures six times this year and he's reached double figures in rebounding four 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 came off the bench to lead UNO in rebounding four times this year before getting his first start on December 18 against UNK. He came up big in that start with 11 points and 12 rebounds for his second double-double of the season.

Newman is second on the team with 6.8 rebounds a game. He's also scoring 8.3 points a game and shooting 52 percent.

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

Martin Continues Hot Shooting
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 15.8 points a game and 51 percent shooting in the last five contests.

Overall, Martin is averaging 13.1 points a game and shooting 44 percent from the field and 44 percent from 3-point range. He's second in the MIAA with 3.1 made 3-pointers a game.

The two games when he only had one field goal were the only two when he didn't reach double figures. In the other 10 games he's scoring 14.8 points a game and shooting 51 percent from the field and 51 percent from 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
UNO will play two games on the road next week, marking the first true, multi-game road trip. Thursday the Mavs play at Southwest Baptist at 7:30 p.m. and then Saturday they are at Missouri Southern at 3:30 p.m.