For complete notes, please refer to the PDF version.

This Weekend
The Omaha men's basketball team (16-13, 5-8 Summit League) plays its final regular-season home game of the season this Saturday, March 1, hosting Fort Wayne. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at Ralston Arena, and KZOT 1180 AM will carry the radio broadcast live with Gary Sharp and Grant Nieland calling the action. Fans can also stream the radio broadcast on their smartphones by downloading NRG Media's app “1620 The Zone.” Links to live stats and audio will be available on OMavs.com.

Fans are encouraged to arrive early, as the Mavericks will celebrate Senior Day prior to the game for their five senior players: Matt Hagerbaumer, John Karhoff, Alex Phillips, Justin Simmons and Caleb Steffensmeier.

Scouting the Fort Wayne Mastodons
Fort Wayne, which is second in the conference standings, enters Saturday's game with a record of 21-9 (9-4 Summit League) after a 65-56 win at Western Illinois on Thursday. Luis Jacobo picked up a 19-point, 11-rebound double-double -- his second of the season -- as the Mastodons tied for the second-most wins in a season in their program's history. Joe Reed added 11 points, and Steve Forbes added another 10.

Jacobo has led IPFW with 14.7 points per game this season, while Reed has 5.4 rebounds per contest. Forbes also averages double-figure scoring with 12.0 points per game. The Jaguars are led by head coach Tony Jasick, who holds a record of 48-45 over three seasons with the Mastodons.

IPFW leads the all-time series with Omaha, 4-1. The two teams last squared off on Jan. 30 in Fort Wayne, with the Mastodons earning an 86-82 win at Gates Sports Center. The Mastodons last visited Ralston Arena on Jan. 31, 2013, when UNO picked up an 86-79 victory.

Quick Hits
•With its 88-66 win over IUPUI on Thursday, Omaha assured itself of finishing with a winning record for the first time since 2010-11, its last year in Division II.
• UNO's 10 home wins this year have come at an average margin of 22.7 points.
•Senior center John Karhoff is the 13th player in program history to surpass 1,000 points and 500 rebounds in his career. He now sits at 1,307 points and 510 boards.
•Kenpom.com lists Omaha's adjusted tempo of 74.3 possessions per 40 minutes at fourth nationally.
•The Mavericks' average scoring margin of 5.6 points is 82nd in the country. UNO's wins have come with an average margin of victory of 18.3 points, while their losses have come by an average of 9.9.
•UNO is 11-3 this season when scoring 80 or more points in a game.
•Omaha finished with a season-high .556 shooting percentage in its win at South Dakota State on Jan. 18. In the last two years, Omaha is 13-5 when shooting .500 or better as a team, including a perfect 10-0 this season.
•Senior guard Justin Simmons has 13 career scoring performances with 20 or more points. Senior center John Karhoff is just behind him with eight, and junior guard CJ Carter has six.
•Omaha tallied its 16th win of the season on Thursday, defeating IUPUI at home, 88-66. This season marks the Mavericks' highest wins total since going Division I.
•The Mavericks' five-game win streak from Nov. 25 to Dec. 14 was their longest stretch since beginning the Division I transition, and it was the UNO's longest since the 2010-11 season.
•Omaha received votes in the CollegeInsider.com mid-major poll for five straight weeks from Dec. 16 to Jan. 13. This year marks the Mavericks' inclusion for the first time in school history.
•Over 2012-13 and 2013-14, Omaha is 14-6 when junior guard CJ Carter scores 15 or more points in a game. Carter led the Mavericks in three straight games to open the year with 18 points at Northern Illinois, 22 at Iowa and 22 vs. UMKC.

Last Time Out: vs. IUPUI (Feb. 27)
The Omaha men's basketball team snapped its four-game losing skid on Thursday night, defeating IUPUI 88-66 at Ralston Arena. Junior forward Mike Rostampour led the Mavs with 18 points and nine rebounds, shooting 7-of-9 from the field. Sophomore guard Marcus Tyus had 17 points with a trio of 3-pointers, while senior guard Justin Simmons added 15 points for the night. Senior center John Karhoff rounded it out with 13 points, four rebounds and four assists, and he now ranks 20th on the UNO career assists chart with 213 over the last four years.

As a team, Omaha shot 52 percent (35-of-67) from the field, 44 percent (7-of-16) from long range and 79 percent (11-of-14) at the free throw line. The Jaguars came in at 46 percent (26-of-56) from the floor, 46 percent (5-of-11) beyond the arc and 60 percent (9-of-15) at the line. For the night, Omaha forced 21 Jaguar turnovers, scoring 34 points of those miscues, while committing just nine of its own.    

#Socks4SlamDunk: Simmons Advances in Dark Horse Dunker Competition
Senior guard Justin Simmons is one of eight candidates to advance to Round Two of the 2014 “State Farm Dark Horse Dunker” competition, it was announced Monday by Intersport, producers of the State Farm College Slam Dunk & 3-Point Championships.

The State Farm Dark Horse Dunker is a bracket-style elimination competition. Voting began Feb. 10 with 16 finalists, Simmons won his Round One matchup against Deonte Jones of Texas Wesleyan. Round Two, which began Monday, features four head-to-head matchups and runs one week, for which Simmons will be paired against Brison White of Northwestern State. Subsequent semi-final and final rounds will be open one week each. The champion will be announced March 17 and compete at the 26th annual College Slam Dunk Championship in Dallas on April 3.

The eight remaining finalists hail from schools outside the national spotlight and possess the leaping ability, creativity, and power to compete against college basketball's stars in the Slam Dunk Championship. Fans determine the winner by voting daily on Facebook (www.Facebook.com/CollegeSlam) throughout the five-week competition.

Previous “State Farm Dark Horse Dunker” winners include Corey Law (High Point University) in 2013, James Justice (Martin Methodist College) in 2012. The 2011 winner, Jacob Tucker (Illinois College), went on to win the Slam Dunk Championship.

In support of Simmons as a Dark Horse Dunker candidate, fans can vote daily on the College Slam Dunk & 3-Point Championships Facebook page. When posting on social media, fans are also encouraged to use the hashtag #Socks4SlamDunk, a nod to Simmons' nickname on and off the court, “Socks.”

Karhoff Joins 1,000 Points/500 Rebounds Club
With his 13-point effort at South Carolina State on Nov. 25, senior John Karhoff's became the 34th Maverick to join the Mavericks' 1,000 Point Club. The Creighton Prep product has now amassed 1,294 career points over three-plus years, which ranks 10th in school history, and 506 rebounds, which is 18th in the record book. Two weeks ago, Karhoff became the 13th Maverick to reach 1,000 points and 500 rebounds in his career.

Karhoff has also joined the career leaders list in field goals made, rebounds and blocks, and he is on the brink of entering the top 20 in assists. Karhoff's current totals and progress climbing the career ranks is listed below:

KARHOFF IN THE OMAHA CAREER RECORD BOOK
Points -- 1,307 (ranks 10th, needs two to tie for ninth)
Rebounds -- 510 (ranks 17th, needs eight to tie for 16th)
FG Made -- 519 (ranks sixth, needs 28 to tie for fifth)
Assists -- 213 (needs two to tie for 19th)
Steals -- 77 (needs 20 to tie for 19th)
Blocks -- 67 (ranks eighth, needs one to tie for seventh)

Rostampour Makes His Mark
Junior forward Mike Rostampour has started all 27 games this season after redshirting in 2012-13. The transfer from St. Cloud State has averaged 8.9 points and a team-leading 6.8 rebounds per game, the latter of which ranks third in the Summit League. Rostampour's numbers are even better in conference play, in which he has averaged 9.2 points and 7.2 boards per contest.

This year, Omaha is 8-4 when Rostampour pulls down eight or more rebounds in a game. He has hit his career best of 12 boards twice -- first at Fort Wayne on Jan. 31 and again against Peru State on Feb. 5, a game in which he also had a career-best 24 points. Rostampour also owns UNO's only two double-doubles this season.

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.

The Mavericks are 10-3 at home this year, starting with six straight wins over UMKC (101-71), South Carolina State (91-59), Iowa Wesleyan (86-36), Waldorf College (100-66), CSU Bakersfield (93-88) and Seattle (76-69). UNO was dealt its first loss on Jan. 23 against Denver before wins over South Dakota (77-73), Peru State (86-62) and Western Illinois (71-60). Omaha then dropped losses to South Dakota State (77-60) and North Dakota State (75-59) before picking up a victory over IUPUI (88-66) on Thursday night.

UNO's 10 home wins have come at an average margin of 22.7 points, and the Mavs have scored an average of 80.6 points per game on their home court while holding their opponents to 67.4.

League Leaders
With a strong 2013-14 season, the Mavericks have ranked among the top statistical performers in the conference all year long. As a team, Omaha tops the league in points per game (79.7), free throw percentage (.764), assists per game (15.4) and steals per game (8.0).

Individually, sophomore guard Devin Patterson has been the Summit League's steals leader all season, as he has compiled 55 total swipes and averaged 1.9 steals per game.

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.