Box Score LINCOLN, Neb. – The Omaha men's basketball team finished a three-game road swing Tuesday night, falling 80-67 to Nebraska in front of a crowd of 15,889 at Pinnacle Bank Arena. With the loss, the Mavericks drop to 2-2 (0-0 Summit League) on the season, while the Huskers improve to 3-1 (0-0 Big Ten).
Junior guard
Devin Patterson led the Mavericks in scoring for the second straight game, posting 20 points, five rebounds, three steals and an assist. Senior guard
CJ Carter added 13 points, three rebounds, a career-high five steals and two assists. Junior guard
Marcus Tyus also finished in double figures, notching a season-high 12 points, two boards, a trio of steals and an assist.
Senior forward
Mike Rostampour led UNO on the glass, pulling down eight caroms alongside two points, two assists and two steals.
Shavon Shields made all the difference for Nebraska, finishing with 35 points and eight rebounds with a pair of steals. Terran Petteway had a double-double with 20 points and a game-high 12 boards, along with three assists and three steals. Tai Webster rounded it out with 10 points and four assists.
As a team, Omaha shot .411 (23-of-56) from the field, .333 (6-of-18) from long range and .682 (15-of-22) at the line. Nebraska came in at .428 (28-of-53) from the floor, .316 (6-of-19) from beyond the arc and .581 (18-of-31) at the charity stripe. The Huskers also outrebounded Omaha, 42-28.
Omaha opened the game hitting seven of their first eight shots, running out to a 21-7 lead by the first media timeout at 15:45. UNO's rebounding was outstanding in the opening minutes, as the Mavericks outrebounded NU 7-0 before the Huskers pulled down their first board at 14:34. The Mavericks' shooting then turned cold, and they went 0-for-8 from the floor over six minutes while the Huskers knotted the score at 23-23. Nebraska had a 29-13 scoring run to close the first half, and Shields was the main offensive catalyst. He accounted for 18 of NU's 29 points while erasing UNO's lead.
With 2:13 until the break, five straight points on a Thurman three and free throws by Patterson brought UNO back within six. Petteway poured in one more layup, helping the Huskers take a 42-34 lead at halftime.
Tyus started UNO's scoring in the second half with a dunk, again making it a six-point game. But buckets proved limited for both teams early in the second stanza, as UNO came out 1-for-8 from the field before layups by Patterson and Carter made it 47-43; NU was also 1-for-8 until Shields knocked down a jumper and a 3-pointer to spot a nine-point lead. With nine minutes to go, Shields hit another three to extend the lead to 61-50. The Huskers then took their largest lead of the game with 6:44 to go, stretching the advantage to 67-52 on another shot by Shields, who finished with 14 points in the second half. Nebraska went on to take the win, 80-67.
"I thought our guys played with a lot of confidence," head coach
Derrin Hansen said. "I thought defensively we were really dialed in. As the first half wore on though, we were not as good in our switches. I thought their guards were getting the ball and going downhill a bit, and that hurt us some. In the second half, I liked our fight. We got it back to four points at one time, and then I just thought we did a bad job a couple times in transition.
"When we do what we need to do, by moving the basketball and getting side to side setting ball screens, I thought we got the ball where we wanted it and were semi-efficient. When we kept the ball on one side and let Nebraska's length and athleticism come into play, that is when it really hurt us, and they got some run outs and some separation in the game."
Omaha returns to action on Saturday, Nov. 29, hosting Nevada at 1 p.m. at Ralston Arena. 1180 Zone 2 will carry the radio broadcast, and links to live, stats, audio and video will be available on OMavs.com. Fans are encouraged to arrive early, as Ralston Arena will offer #1 hot dogs, sodas and beers for the hour before tipoff.