This Weekend
The Omaha men's basketball team opens the 2013-14 season this weekend, traveling to Northern Illinois on Friday, Nov. 8. The game is set for 7 p.m. at the Convocation Center in DeKalb, Ill., and a live radio broadcast will be available on KOIL 1290 AM with Jon Green on the call. Fans can also stream the radio broadcast on their mobile phones by downloading NRG Media's app “The Mighty 1290 KOIL.”

Scouting the Northern Illinois Huskies
Northern Illinois opens the 2013-14 season on Friday against Omaha after securing a 90-57 exhibition win over Rockford on Nov. 2. The Huskies return eight letterwinners and four starters from their 2012-13 squad, which compiled a record of 5-25 (3-13 MAC). NIU is guided by head coach Mark Montgomery, who enters his third season with a career mark of 10-51.

NIU is led by senior Aksel Bolin, who averaged a team-high 7.4 points and 4.2 rebounds per game while shooting .325 from 3-point range last season. Bolin represented Norway earlier this year at the World University Games.

The Mavericks lead the all-time series against NIU, 2-0. Omaha and Northern Illinois last met on Nov. 9, 2012 in the season opener at Ralston Arena, which UNO won, 77-64. Prior to that, Omaha also took a 77-72 win in DeKalb on Dec. 3, 2011, which marked head coach Derrin Hansen's first coaching victory over a fellow Division I program.

Quick Hits
•Omaha lost three letterwinners from the 2013-14 squad, most notably forward Alex Welhouse, who finished his career ranked ninth in school history with 150 3-pointers made. Guards Jacques Coleman and Tyler Egli were also lost to graduation.
•Senior guard Caleb Steffensmeier is four assists away from breaking into the top 20 in school history for career assists.
•As a team, Omaha tied for 39th nationally in field goal percentage and 72nd in scoring offense. Individually, Simmons tied for 95th in scoring, and senior center John Karhoff was 89th in field goal percentage.
•Senior guard Justin Simmons owned UNO's top two single-game scoring totals in 2012-13 with 32 points vs. Benedictine and 29 vs. South Dakota State.
•According to the website kenpom.com, UNO ranked first nationally last season in adjusted tempo, which estimates of the possessions per 40 minutes a team would have against a team that wants to play at an average Division I tempo. Omaha's adjusted tempo was listed at 72.8 (possessions per 40 minutes).

Last Time Out vs. Northern Illinois: Nov. 9, 2012
Omaha opened the Ralston Arena era on Nov. 9, 2012, defeating Northern Illinois 77-64 in front of 2,224 fans. CJ Carter led the way with 16 points, finishing 10-for-14 at the free throw line. Carter added two rebounds, five assists and three steals for the night.

Three other Mavericks finished with double-figure scoring: Alex Welhouse (13), John Karhoff (12) and Justin Simmons (12). Karhoff chipped in a team-leading six boards.

NIU was paced by 11 points from Aksel Bolin and 10 points from Daveon Balls, who was 2-for-2 from 3-point range. Keith Gray totaled a game-best seven rebounds, and Travon Baker grabbed a trio of steals.

What Makes Up the Mavericks
•Omaha returns eight letterwinners from the 2012-13 season, including four who started: senior guards Justin Simmons and Alex Phillips, senior center John Karhoff and junior guard CJ Carter.
•UNO returns 84 percent of its total offensive production from last season, as this year's returners accounted for 1,850 of the Mavericks' 2,215 points.
•Simmons is the Summit League's leading returning scorer after pacing the conference with 16.7 points per game last season. In his first year as a Maverick, Simmons was second among all UNO players with 28.4 minutes per game but led with 879 total minutes played. He shot .473 from the floor, .402 from long range and added 4.0 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game.
•CJ Carter played the most minutes per game of any Maverick player last season, averaging 29.2 minutes per contest.
•Karhoff is Omaha's leading returner in rebounds, having averaged 4.1 boards per game in 2012-13.
•UNO's roster includes one true freshman, one redshirt freshman, four sophomores, three juniors and five seniors.
•The Mavericks hail from six different states. Six are from Nebraska, and four are from Minnesota, while Iowa, Wisconsin, Alabama and Virginia are all represented once on the roster.

Simmons Named to Preseason All-Summit First Team
Senior guard Justin Simmons was among six players named to the Preseason All-Summit First Team last month. The league's top returning scorer this season, he ranked fourth among conference players in 2012-13 after averaging 16.7 points per game, as well as 4.0 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.2 steals and 0.7 blocks per contest. The Milwaukee, Wis., native had 11 20-plus point performances, and he scored in double figures in all but five games as a junior. Simmons finished his first year as a Maverick by earning second-team All-Summit honors, becoming the first UNO men's basketball player to earn all-conference accolades since moving to Division I. His 517 points last year put him at 14th on the Mavericks' single-season scoring list.

Simmons is playing essentially just his fourth year of organized basketball. He played for South Division High School as a senior, then became an All-American long jumper at Concordia-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.

Karhoff Nears 1,000-Point Club
Senior John Karhoff enters his senior season on the brink of joining the Mavericks' 1,000 Point Club, as he has amassed 927 career points over three years. The Omaha native needs 73 points to become the 34th Maverick to score 1,000 points in a career.

Karhoff is also close to joining the career leaders list in rebounds, assists and field goals made. He already ranks 12th on the career blocks chart with 52. Karhoff's current totals and progress climbing the career ranks is listed below:

        KARHOFF IN THE OMAHA CAREER RECORD BOOK
        Points -- 927 (needs 73 to join 1,000 Point Club)
        Rebounds -- 397 (needs 79 to tie for 20th)
        Blocks -- 52 (ranks 12th, needs one to tie for 11th)
        FG Made -- 379 (needs 21 to tie for 20th)
        Steals -- 60 (needs 38 to tie for 20th)

League Leaders
In its first year of Summit League play in 2012-13, Omaha was picked to finish last but came in at sixth in the conference standings. Statistically, the Mavericks ranked in the top three in multiple categories: first with 26.6 field goals made per game, second with 13.2 assists per game and third with 71.5 points per game and 6.6 steals per game.

Individually, Justin Simmons ranked fourth in the league in scoring with 16.7 points per game, which makes him the leading returning scorer in the conference entering 2013-14. Additionally, Simmons was fourth with 517 total points and 196 field goals made. Caleb Steffensmeier also ranked first with a 2.7 assist-to-turnover ratio, and John Karhoff was eighth with 155 field goals made.

Double Trouble
In 2012-13, Omaha was a perfect 4-0 when a player recorded a double-double. Justin Simmons had one against Benedictine (32 points, 11 rebounds), and John Karhoff had one against North Dakota (17 points, 10 rebounds). Former Maverick Alex Welhouse had two: vs. Kansas City (10 points, 10 rebounds) and at IUPUI (17 points, 12 rebounds).

Home Sweet Home
The 2013-14 season marks UNO's second season playing at Ralston Arena, which serves as the home of Maverick men's basketball, Omaha Lancers hockey and Omaha Beef indoor football. The Mavs will play a full Summit League schedule this year with seven conference games, and in total they have 14 games on the slate at Ralston.

In 2012-13, its inaugural season at Ralston, Omaha enjoyed a 7-6 advantage at home.

Hansen Enters Ninth Year With Mavericks
Head coach Derrin Hansen enters his ninth season at the helm of the Omaha men's basketball program in 2013-14, boasting a career record of 132-106 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.

Fresh Faces: The Maverick Newcomers
The Mavericks have welcomed six newcomers to the roster this season: freshman forward Rylan Murry, redshirt freshman Jalen Bradley, sophomore guards Devin Patterson and Kyler Erickson and junior forwards Mike Rostampour and Jake White.

Murry was an all-state selection at West Branch High School in West Branch, Iowa, where he lettered four years and owns the school's single-game scoring record (45 points). Patterson is a transfer to the Mavericks, coming from New Mexico Junior College, a program that also produced senior guard Alex Phillips. Prior to NMJC, Patterson played for the nationally-ranked Norcom High School program in Portsmouth, Va., where he helped his squad to a state championship as a junior and earned first-team all-district honors.

White transferred to UNO after two seasons at Wichita State, and he will sit out in 2013-14 in accordance with NCAA transfer rules. White was part of the Shocker squad that played in the 2013 NCAA Final Four. He previously starred at Chaska High School in Chaska, Minn., where he was a fourth-team Parade All-American and second-team all-state.

Erickson was a member of the Northwest Missouri State program for two seasons before transferring to UNO and will also sit out due to transfer rules. A native of Omaha, he was second-team All-Nebraska as a senior at Millard South High School and took the Patriots to their first state tournament appearance in eight years.

Rostampour, a transfer from St. Cloud State, is expected to contribute in a big way after sitting out last season. A starter two years ago with the Huskies, he averaged eight points and five rebounds per game and led the team with .530 shooting from 3-point range.

Bradley, who redshirted last year, is an in-state product from Norfolk High School, where he was a two-time first-team all-state honoree. He led the state in scoring two straight years and closed his career as Norfolk's all-time leading scorer and the fifth-best scorer in Nebraska Class A history with 1,638 points. His career free throw percentage of .934 was also a state record and ranked second all-time nationally.

Mixed Schedule Takes Mavericks Around the Nation
Omaha's 2013 schedule includes 30 games against 22 different opponents, and the team will play in 12 states and five time zones across the country, including a trip to Hawaii to start the second half of the season. The schedule also features games against three 2013 NCAA Tournament teams -- UNLV, Minnesota and defending Summit League champion South Dakota State. In total, UNO will square off with opponents from seven other conferences.

The Mavericks have never faced six of their 2013 opponents: UNLV, South Carolina State, Waldorf College, Central Arkansas, Minnesota and Hawaii. Entering the season, Omaha holds a combined all-time record of 129-149 over all teams on the slate.

No Longer the Newcomers
Omaha is in its third year as a reclassifying Division I school in 2013-14 and its second as a member of the Summit League. In 2012-13, the Mavericks played their first full season as a member of the conference, finishing 6-10 in league play and sixth in the standings.

UNO is ineligible for the Summit League Tournament and NCAA/NIT postseason play until 2015-16 but will play a full regular-season conference schedule through its transitional years. It is, however, eligible for the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) and CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT) in the postseason.

Summit League Preseason Poll Announced
Omaha was picked to finish fifth in the 2013-14 Summit League Preseason Poll, the conference office announced Oct. 16. The poll was tallied in a vote of the league's head coaches, communications personnel and media.

The Mavericks collected 130 points to come in fifth in the poll. North Dakota State was the favorite to win the Summit League, garnering 25 first-place votes for 305 points. League newcomer Denver, which earned a share of the WAC regular-season title in 2012-13, was second and received three first-place votes for 260 points. Two-time defending Summit League Tournament champion South Dakota State placed third with 233 points, followed by last season's regular-season co-champion Western Illinois in fourth with 161 points. Omaha, Fort Wayne (120), South Dakota (102) and IUPUI (81) rounded out the poll.

Next Up
Omaha returns to action on Sunday, Nov. 10, traveling to Iowa. The game is set for 3:30 p.m. at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa, and it will be broadcast live on ESPN3.com. Radio will also be available on KOIL 1290 AM with Jon Green on the call.