Box Score OMAHA, Neb. – The Omaha men's basketball team improved to a perfect 5-0 at home Tuesday night, defeating CSU Bakersfield, 93-88, at Ralston Arena. With the win, the Mavericks are now 7-3 (0-0 Summit League), while the Roadrunners drop to 5-5 (0-0 WAC).
Omaha was paced by junior guard
CJ Carter, who finished with 20 points on 6-for-12 shooting with two 3-pointers. Senior center
John Karhoff added 18 points with a perfect 10-for-10 showing at the free throw line, while sophomore guard
Marcus Tyus had 14 points, and sophomore guard
Devin Patterson chipped in another 13.
Junior forward
Mike Rostampour pulled down a game-best eight rebounds with seven points, and senior guard
Justin Simmons posted nine points off the bench.
The Roadrunners were led by Issiah Grayson's game-best 29 points on 10-for-16 shooting with four treys. Brandon Barnes added 17 points, while Javonte Maynor (11) and Tyrell Corbin (10) also finished in double figures.
UNO shot 49 percent (26-of-53) from the floor, 40 percent (8-of-20) from 3-point range and 72 percent (33-of-47) from the free throw line. CSU Bakersfield finished at 52 percent (31-of-60) from the field, 48 percent (13-of-27) from long range and 59 percent (13-of-22) from the charity stripe.
Omaha led by as much as 10 in the first half, going up 14-4 on a Simmons three and again at 18-8 on a layup from senior forward
Matt Hagerbaumer. Maynor hit the Roadrunners' first trey at 10:46, and CSUB trimmed it to a one-point game at 24-23 with back-to-back triples from Maynor and Grayson along with a Grayson tip-in. Abdul Ahmed's three with 6:48 left tied the game at 26-all, and Bakersfield stretched it to 32-28 with threes from Grayson and Ahmed.
A pair of Karhoff free throws brought it back to 32-32, and a Carter layup knotted it again at 34-34. CSUB's final three – its seventh of the half – was knocked down by Corbin, and two of his foul shots again put the 'Runners up by four. Omaha regained the lead when Ahmed was called for a technical foul, and Karhoff hit three straight free throws to make it 40-39. Carter and senior guard
Caleb Steffensmeier then poured in a 3-pointer apiece, spotting UNO a 46-39 advantage at the half.
UNO and CSUB traded threes early in the second stanza, with Tyus accounting for two triples that made it 53-42. The Mavericks went up by 14 with the help of a quick 6-0 run, which brought it to 59-45. Shortly after, Simmons threw down a crowd-pleasing dunk that pushed it to 66-52, and a three from senior guard
Alex Phillips later gave UNO a 71-54 tally. The Mavs took their largest lead of the game at 82-64 with 6:07 remaining.
Omaha held on to a double-digit lead until 1:53, when Matt Ratto banked in a 3-pointer to cut it to 89-80. Twenty seconds later, consecutive threes from Grayson and Ratto trimmed the score to 90-86 with 1:01 remaining, and a Barnes layup sheared it down even further to 91-88 with 26 seconds to go. Phillips and Patterson each hit a free throw, however, holding off CSUB for the 93-88 win.
Omaha returns to action on Saturday, Dec. 14, traveling to Nevada. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. (CT) at Lawlor Events Center in Reno, Nev., and links to live stats, audio and video will be available on OMavs.com. The game will also be carried on 1620 AM with Gary Sharp on the call.
