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A surging Omaha men's basketball team returns home this week, hosting Fort Wayne on Thursday, Jan. 31. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at Ralston Arena, and links to live stats and live video will be available on OMavs.com.
UNO is in its second year as a reclassifying Division I school in 2012-13 and officially joined The Summit League in July 2012 with a full regular-season conference schedule ahead. The Mavericks are led by head coach Derrin Hansen, who is in his eighth year at the helm of the UNO program with a career record of 128-102.
Scouting the Fort Wayne Mastodons
Fort Wayne (10-13, 3-6 Summit League) last took the court on Jan. 26, edging IUPUI, 80-79, in overtime. All-league guard Frank Gaines scored a game-high 29 points with six 3-pointers, followed by Luis Jacobo (13 points), Joe Edwards (12) and Michael Kibiloski (10). Pierre Bland added six points with a career-best nine assists and six rebounds. It was Gaines' free throws with three seconds left to play that sealed the Mastodons' victory.
Head coach Tony Jasick (Mars Hill, 2000) is in his second year at IPFW with a record of 21-32. Fort Wayne leads the all-time series against the Mavericks, 3-0, having taken a 96-78 win in Fort Wayne on Jan. 5.
Quick Hits
•Omaha has shot 50 percent or better from the field in five of its last seven games. In that span, the Mavericks have shot a combined 52 percent as a team, highlighted by a season-high .623 against IUPUI on Jan. 10. That game held Omaha's highest shooting percentage since beginning the transition to Division I.
•Last Thursday's win at South Dakota marked the Mavericks' first conference road victory, while Saturday's triumph over Kansas City was UNO's first season sweep of a league opponent.
•UNO had five players score in double figures in back-to-back contests at CSU Bakersfield (Jan. 19) and at South Dakota (Jan. 24). Previously, the Mavericks did not have a game with five double-figure scorers.
•Omaha's leads the Summit League with 26.0 field goals made per game. It is also third in field goal percentage (46.4) and steals per game (7.0).
•The Mavericks are 5-2 when leading at halftime and enjoy a 4-3 advantage when playing at Ralston Arena.
•UNO's 46.4 field goal percentage ties them for 39th nationally with Duke.
•Omaha is 2-0 when a player records a double-double. Junior guard Justin Simmons had one against Benedictine (32 points, 11 rebounds), and senior forward Alex Welhouse had one against Kansas City (10 points, 10 rebounds).
•The Mavs have had two games this season in which two players score 20-plus points on the same night. Simmons and sophomore guard CJ Carter did so against UMKC, followed by Simmons and freshman guard Marcus Tyus at IPFW. The last time Omaha had two players with at least 20 points apiece in the same game was Jan. 8, 2012, with junior center John Karhoff and Mitch Albers at Johnson & Wales.
Last Time Out
Omaha rallied from an 11-point halftime deficit to earn its first season sweep of a conference opponent on Saturday, defeating Kansas City 67-59 at Swinney Recreation Center. Junior guard Justin Simmons led all scorers with 21 points, marking his 11th straight double-figure scoring effort and sixth 20-plus point performance of the season. He also pulled down five rebounds and added two assists, three steals and a block. Simmons was joined in double figures by junior center John Karhoff, who recorded 16 points, three boards, four assists and a trio of steals.
Sophomore guard CJ Carter added nine points, a team-leading six rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block. Senior forward Alex Welhouse chipped in eight points, three boards and two steals, while freshman guard Marcus Tyus had seven points and two rebounds off the bench. Junior guard Caleb Steffensmeier also had four rebounds and two steals for the night.
The Maverick defense also held the 'Roos to 59 points, which was the fewest scored by any UNO opponent this year and the fewest of any Division I competition since the Mavs began their transition.
Rewind With the Mastodons
Omaha traveled to Fort Wayne on Jan. 5, falling 96-78 to the Mastodons at Memorial Coliseum. Junior guard Justin Simmons paced the Mavericks with 24 points, shooting 11-of-18 from the field, while adding a team-leading six rebounds. Freshman guard Marcus Tyus poured in a season-high 20 points with 7-of-12 shooting and a pair of 3-pointers. The effort bested his previous mark of 17 points against Bethune Cookman on Nov. 23. Tyus added a pair of rebounds and two steals for the afternoon.
Sophomore guard CJ Carter also had a double-figure day, totaling 12 points with three rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal. Junior center John Karhoff had eight points and four boards, and senior forward Alex Welhouse notched four points and a team-best six rebounds with three helpers, two blocks and a steal of his own.
Fort Wayne was led by four players in double figures, two of whom had double-doubles. Michael Kibiloski had a career-high 26 points with five 3-pointers and 10 rebounds. Mario Hines also had a double-double with 12 points and 12 boards, while Frank Gaines added 26 points and Luis Jacobo finished with 16. Both Gaines and Jacobo hit four treys on the day.
As a team, Omaha shot 51 percent (31-of-61) from the floor to Fort Wayne's 50 percent (28-of-56) effort. The Mastodons made a season-high 14-of-24 (58 percent) shots from 3-point range, while UNO finished at 4-of-15 (27 percent). As a squad, the Mavericks outblocked IPFW 6-2.
Welhouse Continues Climb Up Career 3-Pointers List
Forward Alex Welhouse entered his senior season as one of UNO's most experienced returners, having averaged 10.4 points and a team-leading 6.7 rebounds per game as a junior. A three-year starter, he is ninth all-time on UNO's career 3-pointers chart with 136 threes made, which passes former Maverick Troy Kloewer (131). Welhouse stands 25 from matching Michael Jenkins for eighth (161).
Home Sweet Home
The 2012-13 season marks UNO's inaugural season playing at newly constructed Ralston Arena, which will serve as the new home of Maverick men's basketball, Omaha Lancers hockey and Omaha Beef indoor football. The Mavs begin a full Summit League schedule this year, and they will host 13 games at Ralston, including a game for the ESPN Sears BracketBusters series.
On Nov. 9, Omaha hosted its first game in the facility, defeating Northern Illinois 77-64 in front of 2,224 fans. After a five-week, 10-game span of away games, the Mavericks returned to Ralston on Dec. 18 to host Benedictine. UNO is now 4-3 at home after splitting its last homestand against IUPUI and Western Illinois.
Simmons' Nabs Mavs' First Double-Double of 2012-13
Omaha played its first home game in over five weeks on Dec. 18, rallying for a 74-70 victory over Benedictine. Junior guard Justin Simmons paced the Mavericks with a double-double on a career-high 32 points and 11 rebounds. The Milwaukee, Wis., native shot 12-of-18 from the floor and added four assists and a steal. His scoring performance marked the most points since Tyler Bullock had 32 against Southwest Baptist on Feb. 20, 2010, and he is the Mavs' first player to cross the 30-point threshold since Mitch Albers had 31 at Avila on Feb. 2, 2012.
Road Warriors
Last month, the Mavericks closed a challenging 10-game away schedule that kept them on the road from Nov. 14 to Dec. 15. Omaha traveled to Texas Tech on Nov. 14, Tulane on Nov. 16 and Nebraska on Nov. 18. The Tulane and Nebraska contests were part of the Joe Cipriano Nebraska Classic, which continued with games against Bethune Cookman (Nov. 23) and Chicago State (Nov. 24).
After two Summit League games at North Dakota State (Nov. 29) and South Dakota State (Dec. 1), as well as a mid-week game at Wisconsin (Dec. 4), Omaha visited Iowa State (Dec. 9) and closed with Denver (Dec. 15).
Phill-ing In
Junior guard Alex Phillips has been a major contributor in the first half of the season, averaging 8.6 points per contest with .439 shooting from beyond the arc and a .489 clip from the field, which ranks 11th in the league. He is third on the team in scoring behind only fellow juniors Justin Simmons and John Karhoff.
Phillips scored in double figures in three consecutive games early in the year-- vs. Saint Mary (16), at Texas Tech (10) and at Tulane (13) -- and his season-high 17 points led the Mavs against Chicago State on Nov. 24. He chipped in 11 points with a trio of 3-pointers at Iowa State.
Simmons Steps Up for Starting Role
Junior guard Justin Simmons has made an impression early in his Omaha career, stepping into an immediate starting role for the Mavericks after transferring from Butler Community College. He has averaged 15.5 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.9 assists per contest over 23 games, and he finished with a season-high 32 points and 11 rebounds for his first double-double against Benedictine on Dec. 18.
Simmons ranks among the top 10 in the Summit League in a variety of categories: second in field goals made (141), fourth in total points (357), fifth in scoring (15.5 points per game) and sixth in steals (32). He has had six 20-plus point performances, including three straight from Dec. 31 to Jan. 5.
Simmons is playing essentially just his third year of organized basketball. He played for South Division High School as a senior, then became an All-American long jumper at Concordia University in Wisconsin. In 2011-12, Simmons returned to the basketball court at Butler CC, where he averaged 16.8 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.0 assists per game, which drew the attention of the UNO staff and prompted him to join the Maverick program in 2012-13.
Welcome to The Summit League
The 2012-13 season marks UNO's first year with a full regular-season Summit League schedule. UNO will play all eight Summit League foes twice, once in Omaha and once on the road. Although the Mavericks will appear in the Summit League standings, they cannot qualify for the Summit League Championship or the NCAA Tournament, and Maverick student-athletes are not eligible for all-conference awards until 2015-16.
Mixed Schedule Takes Mavericks Around the Nation
Omaha's 2012-13 schedule includes 31 games against 20 different Division I opponents, and the team will play in 13 states and all four time zones across the country. UNO will match up with opponents from eight different conferences: Big 12, Big Ten, Conference USA, Great West, Mid-American (MAC), Mid-Eastern Athletic (MEAC), Summit League and Western Athletic (WAC).
Three foes were 2012 NCAA Tournament qualifiers: defending Summit League champion South Dakota State, Wisconsin and Iowa State. UW had the longest postseason run, falling 64-63 to Syracuse in the Sweet 16.
The Mavericks have never faced five of their 2012-13 opponents -- Tulane, Bethune-Cookman, Valparaiso, Oakland and IUPUI -- and they hold a combined all-time record of 165-107-1 over all opponents on the slate this season.
Mavericks Add Five for 2012-13
Head coach Derrin Hansen and his staff added five new players to the 2012-13 roster: junior guards Alex Phillips and Justin Simmons, junior forward Mike Rostampour and freshman guards Jalen Bradley and Marcus Tyus.
Phillips and Simmons are the Mavs' two junior college transfers. Simmons began his career in track & field at Concordia (Wis.), then transferred to Butler Community College and returned to the basketball court. Phillips played two years at New Mexico Junior College, earning first-team all-conference accolades as a sophomore and averaging 10.3 points per game, including 17.8 points per contest in league play.
Bradley and Tyus, both true freshmen, begin at UNO with outstanding prep experience. Tyus was a two-time all-conference pick at Anoka High School in Ramsey, Minn. As a senior, he averaged 27 points and four assists per game, and as a junior he broke the Anoka school record with 46 points in a single game. Bradley, a Norfolk High School product, was a two-time all-state selection and was part of the NHS team that was state runner-up in 2010. He led the state of Nebraska in scoring two straight seasons, averaging 21.1 points per game as a junior and 21.9 as a senior. Bradley finished as Norfolk's all-time leading scorer and the fifth-best scorer in Class A history with 1,638 career points.
Rostampour comes from St. Cloud State, where he averaged eight points and five rebounds per game as a starter and led the Huskies with .530 shooting from 3-point range.
Summit League Preseason Poll Announced
The Summit League released its annual preseason men's basketball coaches' poll on Oct. 17, with newcomer Omaha picked ninth for its first year of conference play. The poll was conducted with a vote of the league's head coaches, media and media relations personnel.
South Dakota State was the favorite to win the 2012-13 Summit League Basketball Championship, receiving 30 of 31 first-place votes after claiming the 2012 Summit League Tournament title and representing the league in the NCAA Tournament. North Dakota State, which earned the remaining first-place vote, finished second in the poll with 321 points. Oakland placed third with 310 points, followed by 2012 Tournament runner-up Western Illinois in fourth. IUPUI edged Fort Wayne by two points for fifth while Kansas City, South Dakota and league newcomer Omaha rounded out the poll.
Hansen In Eighth Year With Mavericks
Head coach Derrin Hansen is in his eighth season at the helm of the Omaha men's basketball program in 2012-13, boasting a career record of 128-102 over his head coaching career. He took the job after serving as an assistant coach for seven years with former Maverick head coaches Kevin McKenna and Kevin Lehman. Hansen has the second-most victories of any coach in program history, behind only Bob Hanson, and Hansen hit the century mark for wins on Jan. 12, 2011.
Hansen has coached or assisted teams that have earned five trips to the NCAA Division II Tournament, while also garnering two regular-season league titles and three tournament crowns. In 2007-08, his squad recorded a school-record 25 wins in its final season of North Central Conference play, and the Mavs won their final NCC Tournament to advance to the NCAA Division II Tournament for the first time since 2004-05. In 2009-10, UNO earned an NCAA Tournament berth by capturing the MIAA Tournament crown in just its second year as a member of the league.
As a player at Nebraska Wesleyan, Hansen's 1988 squad advanced to the NCAA Division III semifinals, and while serving as a student coach, the 1990 Plainsmen advanced to the final 16.
Hansen is assisted by assistant coaches Randall Herbst, Pat Eberhart and Tyler Erwin.
Kids Growing Up In the Heartland
The 2012-13 UNO roster is loaded with local talent, with five of the 14 players hailing from three Nebraska cities. Three come from Omaha: juniors John Karhoff and Caleb Steffensmeier (Creighton Prep) and sophomore CJ Carter (Benson). Junior Matt Hagerbaumer is a product of Lincoln Southeast, and freshman Jalen Bradley (Norfolk) is a native of Norfolk, Neb.
Up Next for the Mavericks
Omaha returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 2, hosting Oakland. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. at Ralston Arena, and links to live video and live stats will be available on OMavs.com.
