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OMAHA, Neb. – The UNO men's basketball team earned its third season sweep of a conference opponent Wednesday night, defeating Missouri Western 96-84 at Sapp Fieldhouse. With the win, the Mavericks improve to 14-7 (11-6 MIAA), while MWSU drops to 9-12 (7-9 MIAA) on the year.

Senior guard #Tyler Bullock# led the Mavericks with 25 points, shooting 6-for-12 from the field. Bullock was also 12-for-13 from the free throw line and added five rebounds, five assists and a pair of steals.

Three Mavericks joined Bullock in double-figure scoring -- junior guard #Mitch Albers# (20) and senior guards #Torrian Harris# (15) and #Jeff Martin# (11). Harris pulled down nine boards, and Albers had seven rebounds to tie his career high.

Senior Matt Starks was a huge presence off the bench for UNO, grabbing a career-high nine rebounds and adding eight points, two assists and a steal.

Missouri Western was led by Jonathan Phelps' 24 points, as well as 18 points and a team-best eight rebounds from Creighton transfer P'Allen Stinnett. TJ Johnson contributed 16 points for the Griffons, and DaJuan Harris had 12.

As a team, the Mavericks shot 46 percent from the field, while MWSU had a 44 percent performance. UNO shot 87 percent from the free throw line and also outrebounded Western, 45-39.

Stinnett got Missouri Western on the board first, sinking three straight free throws as the Griffons went up 5-0. Albers then drove in for a layup for the Mavs' first score of the game and later buried a three to make it 8-7. DaJuan Harris chipped in a pair of 3-pointers, but Albers had a long triple to tie it up at 14-all. Phelps put the Griffons back ahead 20-18 with a trey, but Martin responded with one of his own to regain the advantage by one.

UNO forced four turnovers in the first nine minutes, but Phelps had another deep 3-pointer to give the visitors the lead. Starks had a tip-in and a key dunk on a pass inside from freshman guard #Caleb Steffensmeier# to put it back in the Mavericks' court at 25-23, but Western went ahead again as DeJuan Harris made it 29-25 on three consecutive baskets.

MWSU forced back-to-back turnovers at the 5:00 mark, after Nebraska-Omaha had not committed a turnover for the first 15 minutes of action. Sophomore forward #Alex Welhouse# dropped in a deep three to put UNO back up 38-36, and an Albers jumper and two Bullock shots made it 45-38. The senior added a layup and subsequent free throw with 43 seconds to go, and Starks threw down a dunk after steal on the inbound pass, making it 50-42 by halftime.

Both teams shot an identical 7-for-16 from long range in the first half, while UNO shot 44 percent from the field to the Griffons' 42 percent. In addition, Nebraska-Omaha was a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line, and the Mavs outrebounded MWSU 26-19.

Redshirt freshman center #John Karhoff# had the first Maverick basket of the second stanza to take a 10-point lead before Stinnett rattled off eight straight points, including a pair of 3-pointers – his first field goals of the night – to cut the margin to one. Albers poured in a three to make it 59-54, but Stinnett banked in another triple minutes later to tie it up, then worked his way into the lane for a layup that gave the Griffons their first lead of the second half. The advantage did not last long, however, as Bullock had two free throws to tie the game for the sixth and final time.

With 13 minutes left, Welhouse and Martin hit a pair of open threes, and Starks pushed it out to 75-67, forcing Missouri Western to call a timeout.

Staving off a Griffon comeback, Torrian Harris put the Mavericks up by eight with 6:30 to go, then helped the Mavs to 85-75 with a fastbreak layup. UNO took its largest lead of the game with two minutes remaining and used just three free throws to seal the game at 96-84.

With the victory, UNO has a four-game win streak and is undefeated in the month of February. The Mavericks also moved up to a perfect 10-0 when leading at the half.

UNO returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 12, traveling to Truman. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. at Pershing Arena in Kirksville, Mo.