Complete Game Notes
Bracket
NCAA South Central Region Homepage

The Mavericks will open the first round of the NCAA South Central Region tournament at 8:30 p.m. Saturday as the No. 5 seed against No. 4 Tarleton State in Wichita Falls, Texas. The winner will play either Midwestern State, the host and top seed in the tournament, or Incarnate Word, the No. 8 seed on Sunday at 7 p.m. The region final will be Tuesday at 7 p.m.

The Mavericks (22-8) earned their 12th berth into the tournament by winning the MIAA Postseason Tournament Sunday with a 69-67 victory over Washburn. Tarleton State (23-7) finished as runner-up in the Lone Star Conference tournament with MSU winning it.

MSU and Incarnate Word play at 6 p.m. Saturday. The other half of the bracket features an MIAA battle with No. 2 Central Missouri playing No. 7 Missouri Western at noon. Third-seeded Fort Hays State plays No. 6 Central Oklahoma in the other first round game at 2:30 p.m.

Following The Mavericks
All of the Mavericks games in the NCAA South Central Region tournament will be broadcast on 90.7 KVNO FM. Due to a UNO hockey playoff game Saturday at 6:05 p.m., the game against Tarleton State will be joined in progress if the hockey game runs past the basketball game's 8:30 p.m. start time. The same scenario could occur Sunday if both teams are playing that day. Hockey would start at 6:05 p.m. and fans would be able to hear the basketball broadcast at the completion of the hockey game. Fans could also tune into the hockey broadcast and here play-by-play of the basketball game during the second intermission of the hockey game.

Fans can find a link to live stats for all tournament games at www.msumustangs.com on the tournament home page.

Need-to-Know Notes for the Weekend
- Jeff Martin is three 3-pointers away from tying UNO's single-season record. He has 93 and Zac Robinson had 96 in 2006-07.
- Head coach Derrin Hansen moved into second in career wins at UNO last weekend. He has a 91-58 (.611) record in his fifth year.
- The Mavericks ended a three-game losing streak on February 6 at Emporia State. Since then the Mavs have gone 8-2 and have averaged 90.4 points a game.
- The Mavericks are 4-7 in NCAA first round games and 7-13 overall in the tournament. They have never advanced past the second round.
- Tyler Bullock has gone 38 for 40 (.950) from the free throw line in the last five games, including a 14-for-14 performance at Pittsburg State. That is the most free throws made in a game while keeping a perfect percentage since at least 2000-01 when single-game stats are available.
- The Mavericks have recorded their sixth 20-win season in the last nine years.

Mavs Set to Face Texans for Second Time in History
Maverick head coach Derrin Hansen was an assistant on the UNO bench the first and only time the Mavericks played Tarleton State, their first-round opponent in the NCAA tournament this year. Nebraska-Omaha topped the Texans, 73-60 on December 18, 2004, during the High Desert Classic in Las Vegas, Nev.

The Mavericks were ranked 14th in the nation at the time and the win was part of a 12-game winning streak. They went on to finish 23-6 and advance to the NCAA first round. Hansen took over as head coach the next year.

Despite that loss and one in their next game to Missouri Western, the Texans went on to finish the year 25-9, advancing all the way to the Elite 8 semifinal.

The Mavericks matchup well statistically against the Texans. UNO scores 85.1 points a game while TSU averages 71.2 a game. Defensively, Tartleton State holds the edge over the Mavs, allowing just 58.8 points a game, best in the Lone Star and fifth lowest in the nation, while UNO gives up 77.9 a game. Tyler Bullock is UNO's top scorer, averaging 19.2 points a game, the second highest total in the MIAA. Devon Hills leads the Texans in scoring with 13.3 a game.

Maverick NCAA Tournament History
The Mavericks are 7-13 all-time in the NCAA tournament in 11 trips. Their last was in the 2007-08 season when they topped Fort Lewis in the first round and then fell to eventual national champion Winona State in the second round.

The Mavericks have advanced to the second round four times but have never advanced any further. UNO has never played any of the other seven teams in this year's regional tournament in NCAA postseason play.

Another 20-Win Season for Mavericks
UNO's win Friday against Missouri Southern in the first round of the MIAA tournament was its 20th of the year. The Mavericks have gotten to the 20-win mark six times in the last nine years and this is coach Derrin Hansen's second such season in his fifth year. Prior to these last six 20-win seasons, the Mavericks have just four, giving them 10 in school history.

Hansen Moves to Second in School Coaching History
With 91 wins at UNO, head coach Derrin Hansen is now the second winningest coach in UNO history. Hansen is 91-58 (.611) in his fifth season since taking over in 2005-06. Kevin McKenna, now third in school history, coached the Mavs for four seasons before Hansen and had an 89-33 record from 2001-02 through 2004-05. He is currently the head coach at NCAA Division I Indiana State.

Bob Hanson is UNO's all-time leader in wins with 382 in 25 seasons from 1969-1994.

Martin Three 3s Away From School Record
Junior guard Jeff Martin enters the week with 93 3-pointers this year, the second highest single-season total at UNO. He needs three more to tie Zac Robinson's school-record 96 3-pointers in 2006-07. He needs seven more to become the first UNO player to hit 100 3-pointers in a season. The MIAA record for 3s in a season is 118, set in 1987-88 by Duane Huddleston of Missouri S&T.

Martin is first in the MIAA with 3.1 made 3-pointers a game. Overall, Martin is averaging 12.4 points a game and shooting 41 percent from the field and 40 percent from 3-point range.

Martin opened the year by reaching double figures in scoring in each of the first five games. He's on another streak right now, reaching double figures in nine of the last 12 games. Overall, he  is second on the team lead with 22 double-figure scoring games.

Bridger Climbing Charts as Career Winds Down
Senior guard Andrew Bridger moved into second in career assists at UNO earlier this year. He enters the tournament with exactly 500 assists. Dwayne King is the school's leader with 558 from 1982-86.

Bridger has had seven double-figure assists games this year resulting in four double-doubles. He had a career high 16 assists against Missouri Southern on February 25. That total was one away from a school single-game record. Paul Potter had 17 in 1976-77 against Wayne State (Neb.).

Bridger became UNO's 31st member of the 1,000 point club with his fifth point on February 3 against Northwest Missouri, a free throw at 18:52 of the second half. He became just the third player to score 1,000 points with at least 400 assists and 100 steals. Dean Thompson (1980-84) and Calvin Kapels (2002-06) are the two other Mavs in the 1,000 points/400 assists/100 steals club. Bridger can now claim to be the only player with 1,000 points, 500 assists and 100 steals.

Bridger is now 13th at UNO with 1,113 points and he's 47 away from moving into 12th. He's sixth in steals with 157 and nine away from fifth. Bridger is sixth with 160 career 3-pointers and one away from catching Michael Jenkins, who had 161 from 2005-09.

Bridger Leads MIAA in Assists, 6th in NCAA
Andrew Bridger has seven double-figure assist games this year and he leads the MIAA with 6.4 assists a game. His assists average was sixth best in the nation through March 7. The Mavericks are 7-0 when Bridger gets 10 or more assists. Bridger is second in the MIAA with a 2.0 assist/turnover ratio and he's only had more turnovers than assists twice this year.

Bridger is third on the team averaging 11.6 points a game and he's reached double figures 18 times.

Bullock and Bridger Earn Postseason Honors
Maverick junior guard Tyler Bullock was named to the Daktronics all-South Central Region second team after finishing second in the MIAA in scoring in the regular season. He and senior guard Andrew Bridger earned all-MIAA honors. Bullock was named to the first team and Bridger earned a second team nod.
Bridger earned honorable mention all-MIAA last year as a junior and he was also honorable mention in 2007-08, UNO's final season in the North Central Conference.

The two were also named to the MIAA all-tournament team with Bullock earning MVP honor.

High-Scoring Affairs as Mavs Wrap Up Regular Season
The Mavericks snapped a three-game losing streak early in February and they finished the regular season 5-2 after that to lock up a tie for third in the MIAA. Those last seven games were very high-scoring affairs for both teams. UNO averaged 93.6 points a game during that stretch and the opponents averaged 90.7 a game.

Tyler Bullock averaged 24.0 points a game in the last seven and Jeff Martin and Dion Curry each scored 15 a game.

Two of those seven games went into overtime and UNO reached 100 points in both of them. Five of the seven saw UNO score at least 90 and opponents scored at least 88 five times.

In UNO's three-game losing streak, the Mavs averaged just 66.3 points a game and never scored more than 80 in a game. They had their lowest scoring output of the year, 49 points on January 23 against Washburn to start the skid.

The three-game losing streak marked the beginning of the second half of the league season. UNO went 5-5 in the final 10 games after going 7-3 in the first 10.

Bullock Near The Top In Shooting, Scoring
Senior guard Tyler Bullock moved to second in the MIAA in scoring, now with 19.2 points a game. Bullock is shooting 49 percent from the field, eighth best in the MIAA. Bullock has led UNO in scoring 21 times in 30 games and he's reached double figures 26 times.

Bullock scored a team season-high 32 points twice this year. He did so February 20 against Southwest Baptist and he first did it on January 27 in an 82-80 loss to No. 3 Fort Hays State. He was UNO's first 30-point scorer since Michael Jenkins on February 4 in last year's win against Northwest Missouri State. The 32 points scored by by Bullock is the most for a Mav since Jenkins scored 35 on November 17, 2007 against Bemidji State.

Bullock has scored 20 or more points 15 times and eight of those times have come on the road on in the postseason. He averages 20.7 points a game and shoots 47 percent in UNO's road contests. In UNO's road opener at Rockhurst he was 12 for 13 from the field for 28 points and he scored 27 points at No. 3 Central Missouri.

Bullock Sets Free Throw Single-Game Record
Maverick junior guard Tyler Bullock went 14 for 14 from the free throw line in UNO's season finale February 27 at Pittsburg State. That total is a school record since at least the 2000-01 season when single-game statistics are available. Michael Jenkins went 12 for 12 against North Dakota to set the previous record.
Bullock has shot perfectly from the free throw line 12 times this year and six of those times he's taken at least eight attempts. He went 22 for 23 (.957) in the three games in the MIAA tournament.

Bullock Named MIAA Athlete of the Week
Maverick junior guard Tyler Bullock was named the MIAA athlete of the week three weeks ago after he averaged nearly 30 points a game in two big contests. He became the first Nebraska-Omaha player to win the award this year.

In perhaps the two biggest games of the season against two of the top teams in the MIAA and the region, Bullock averaged 29.5 points a game and shot 48 percent from the field.

At Central Missouri Bullock scored 27 points and added five rebounds. Against SBU he scored 32 points to tie his season high. UNO's go-to player at the end of games, he hit a layup near the end of regulation to help send the game to overtime and in the extra period, he scored eight points.

Bain Strong Off the Boards and Strong to the Hoop
Junior forward Eugene Bain leads the team with 6.5 rebounds a game and he's averaging 8.7 points a game. His rebounding average was sixth in the MIAA entering the postseason. Bain has seven double-figure rebound games this year and five double-doubles.

Bain scored 12 points with 11 rebounds against Fort Hays State for his team-leading fifth double-double.

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. He ended the regular season reaching double figures in five straight games to average 15.4 a game while shooting 67 percent. He then scored 7.0 a game in the MIAA tournament and shot 62 percent.

Curry is fourth on the team with 11.2 points a game overall. He's third with 5.8 rebounds a game and he has five double-figure rebound games with four resulting in double-doubles.

Newman Strong All-Around Scorer and Strong as a Starter
Senior forward Matt Newman has started 10 straight games and overall, he's averaging 10.1 points and 7.9 rebounds as a starter. He shoots 52 percent from the field in his starts and he's 45 percent from 3-point range. Overall, he averages 8.8 points and 6.3 rebounds a game.

In his first 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 had a break-out game off the bench Friday against Missouri Southern in the MIAA tournament. He scored 26 points off an 8-of-13 performance.

Overall, he is averaging 7.4 points a game. He has eight total double-figure scoring games this year and five of them have come in MIAA games on the road. Overall, he's averaging 8.9 points a game on the road and shooting 55 percent.