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LINCOLN, Neb. – The Omaha men's basketball team led briefly in the second half but was unable to pick up a win over in-state rival Nebraska, falling 75-62 on Sunday at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. The Mavericks are now 1-4 (0-0 Summit League) on the season, while the Huskers improve to 3-0 (0-0 Big Ten).

Junior guard Justin Simmons paced UNO with a season-high 19 points on 8-for-13 shooting from the field and a pair of 3-pointers. He added four rebounds, two assists and a steal for the day.

Senior forward Alex Welhouse had 14 points on 4-for-5 shooting beyond the arc, two boards and an assist, and junior center John Karhoff had seven points, two rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal. Freshman guard Marcus Tyus chipped in two 3-pointers, totaling six points and four rebounds off the bench, while sophomore guard CJ Carter matched Tyus with six points, four boards, an assist and a steal.

Junior forward Matt Hagerbaumer, playing in his hometown of Lincoln, had a solid effort off the bench with three blocks, two steals and two rebounds.

Nebraska had four players with double-figure scoring: Dylan Talley (22), Andre Almeida (19), Brandon Ubel (11) and Ray Gallegos (11). Almeida and Ubel both added a game-leading seven rebounds.

As a team, UNO shot 47 percent from the field, including 62 percent from 3-point range. The Huskers had a 46 percent effort from the floor but struggled from long range, finishing at a 14 percent clip.
Nebraska outrebounded the Mavericks 39-28, finishing with 16 offensive boards and 24 second chance points. The Huskers also forced 17 turnovers for another 28 points while committing just nine miscues themselves.

Omaha shot well early in the game with a 57 percent first-half effort, taking a quick 11-8 lead on buckets from Simmons and Welhouse. With 9:14 to go in the half, a 5-0 burst spotted the Mavs a 20-15 advantage, which was stretched to 23-17 on a trey from Tyus. NU pushed ahead on a jumper from David Rivers and a Gallegos three, but Simmons responded with a quick 3-pointer of his own to make it 30-29. Five points from Ubel, coupled with free throws from Talley, pushed the Huskers up 36-32, but a pair of charity shots by Carter left it at 36-34 by halftime.

In the first five minutes of the second stanza, the Mavs surged to a 46-44 lead on a putback by senior forward Koang Doluony. Nebraska then went on a 6-0 run, capped by a Gallegos jumper, going ahead 50-46. Two more Carter free throws kept UNO within two, but four unanswered baskets built NU a 58-48 lead.

Two scores from Simmons kept Omaha within striking range, but three baskets from Benny Parker and two from Talley helped Nebraska take its largest lead of the game by a 15-point margin. Talley accounted for 14 points in the second half alone, along with another 10 from Almeida and eight for Parker, spurring the Huskers to the 75-62 win.

"I have to give our kids a lot of credit," head coach Derrin Hansen said. "They played really well. They played hard, especially because where we were 48 hours ago, waiting in an airport in New Orleans, and the 48 hours before that we were in Lubbock. I think we really played hard today, and played well with the circumstances we had coming in."

Omaha returns to action Nov. 23-24 for the final two games of the Joe Cipriano Nebraska Classic in Valparaiso, Ind. The Mavericks face Bethune-Cookman on Friday, Nov. 23 at 4:30 p.m., followed by a contest with either Valparaiso or Chicago State on Friday, Nov. 24 at a time to be announced.