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OMAHA, Neb. – The Omaha men's basketball team nabbed its second conference win of the year Thursday night, defeating IUPUI 90-79 at Ralston Arena. With the win, the Mavericks are 5-14 (2-5 Summit League), while the Jaguars drop to 6-14 (1-5 Summit League).
Junior center
John Karhoff led Omaha with a season-high 20 points, shooting 7-of-9 from the field and a flawless 6-of-6 at the free throw line. The Omaha native added five rebounds, five assists, three blocks and two steals.
Sophomore guard
CJ Carter added 19 points with four boards, two assists and a pair of steals. Junior guard
Justin Simmons chipped in 16 points, and junior guard
Alex Phillips had 15 points, with the duo pulling down a team-leading six rebounds each.
IUPUI was led by Donovan Gibbs, who grabbed a double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Sean Esposito, who hit five 3-pointers for the night, finished with 20 points, and Jordan Shanklin added 15.
As a team, Omaha shot a season-best 62 percent (33-of-53) from the field, while IUPUI came in at a 48 percent (30-of-63) clip. The Jaguars shot 46 percent (10-of-22) from 3-point range, and UNO finished at 35 percent (6-of-17). The Mavericks were also 86 percent (18-of-21) at the free throw line.
IUPUI opened the game to a score of 9-4, but the Omaha rallied with a 6-0 run to take their first lead of the night at 10-9. The Mavs shot 0-for-5 from three to start the game until trey from freshman guard
Marcus Tyus pushed them ahead 22-18. Back-to-back threes from Phillips and junior guard
Caleb Steffensmeier were part of UNO's 13-3 run that made it 33-21. With under a minute to go, a layup by Gibbs and a 3-pointer from Esposito pulled it to a margin of six, with the Mavericks leading 42-36 at halftime.
Omaha came out firing in the second half, shooting 73 percent from the floor as a squad. The Jaguars kept it interesting, however, managing to tie it at 62-all with a 14-1 run. Omaha answered swiftly with a rebound and five straight points from Karhoff for a tally of 68-64. A pair of IUPUI baskets kept it at a three-point ballgame, but another Karhoff basket pushed it back out to 78-73 with four minutes to go.
IUPUI remained within striking range in the final minutes, again pulling within three at 82-79 on a layup and a dunk from Gibbs. A crafty play from the Mavs -- with a Welhouse layup on the assist from Steffensmeier -- kept UNO ahead at 84-79. With 28 seconds remaining, Steffensmeier plunked in a pair of foul shots, Simmons threw down a reverse dunk, and Tyus sunk two free throws of his own, sealing UNO's win at 90-79.
Omaha returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 12, hosting league leader Western Illinois. Tipoff is set for 11:30 a.m. at Ralston Arena, and links to live stats and live video will be available on OMavs.com.