This Week
The Omaha men's basketball team returns to action this week, traveling to South Dakota State on Wednesday, Jan. 28. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at Frost Arena in Brookings, S.D., and the game will be broadcast live on 1180 Zone 2 with Gary Sharp on the call. Fans can stream the audio on their smartphones by downloading NRG Media's app “1620 The Zone,” and links to live stats, audio and video will be available on OMavs.com.
    
Scouting the South Dakota State Jackrabbits
South Dakota State carries a record of 15-7 (6-2 Summit League) into Wednesday's meeting after defeating Oral Roberts 76-72 on Saturday. Cody Larson finished with a career-best 27 points with 12 rebounds for a double-double, and while Deondre Parks had 18 points and Jake Bittle added 13.

Head coach Scott Nagy is in his 20th year at SDSU with a career record of 375-228.

Wednesday marks the 83rd meeting all-time between Omaha and South Dakota State, and the Jackrabbits lead the series, 50-32. The two teams last met on Jan. 10, when SDSU earned an 87-68 win at Ralston Arena. Omaha's last victory in Brookings came on Jan. 18, 2014 by a score of 80-71, which snapped the Jacks' 21-game home win streak in place since Jan. 29, 2011.

Quick Hits
•The Mavericks' two seniors each lead the Summit League in a statistical category: senior forward Mike Rostampour in offensive rebounds (54) and senior guard CJ Carter in field goals made (119).
•Junior guard Marcus Tyus has tallied a double-digit scoring total in 11 of the last 12 contests since Dec. 10.
•Carter is averaging a league-best 21.3 points per game over the first seven games of Summit League play. Overall, he is also second in the league for scoring with 17.6 ppg.
•The Mavericks have shot .500 or better in each of the last three games. Over the last three years, Omaha is 18-6 when shooting .500 or better as a team, including a 5-2 this season.
•UNO has five players who average 8.0 or more points per game, and eight different Mavericks have scored in double figures in at least one game.
•According to kenpom.com, UNO is second nationally 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 is listed at 75.7, behind only VMI (79.4).
•When scoring 40 or more points in the first half, Omaha has gone 5-1 this season.
•Omaha has taken a 16-point lead in the first five minutes of play twice this year. The Mavericks went up 16-0 against Iowa Wesleyan on Dec. 10 and 23-7 at Nebraska on Nov. 25.
•UNO earned its first win over a power-six conference on Nov. 22 with a 97-89 triumph at Marquette.
•UNO has tallied double-digit offensive rebounds 10 of its 17 games: 26 vs. Central Arkansas, 11 at Seattle, 11 at Marquette, 15 at Air Force, 11 vs. Iowa Wesleyan, 17 at UMKC, 12 vs. Northern Colorado, 12 vs. UT Pan American, 16 at Chicago State, 13 at Western Illinois, 19 vs. South Dakota State and 10 vs. Denver.
•Since the 2012-13 season, Omaha is 20-14 when Carter scores 15 or more points in a game.
•This year, UNO is 4-1 when Patterson tallies 20 or more points.
•Omaha leads the Summit League in points per game, field goals made per game, free throws made per game and steals per game.
•The Mavericks were picked sixth in this year's Summit League preseason poll.

Last Time Out: Omaha Powers Past Pioneers, 80-69
Omaha snapped a five-game losing streak on Saturday afternoon, defeating Denver 80-69 at Ralston Arena. Senior guard CJ Carter finished with a game-high 23 points, shooting 7-of-11 with a trio of 3-pointers and a 6-of-6 effort at the line. The Omaha Benson product added two rebounds, four assists, a block and a steal.

Junior guard Devin Patterson added 13 points, a pair of boards, five assists and two steals. Junior guard Marcus Tyus and junior forward Randy Reed II matched each other with 12 points apiece, with Tyus pulling down six rebounds and Reed snagging three more. Reed, whose point total was a season high, also shot 2-of-2 from the field and 8-of-9 at the charity stripe.

Senior forward Mike Rostampour also pulled down a game-leading seven rebounds to lead the way on the glass, and junior forward Jake White had eight points and seven caroms to his credit.

As a team, Omaha shot 23-of-41 (.561) for day, marking its third consecutive game with a .500 or better field goal percentage. Denver finished 25-of-55 (.455) as a squad.

House of Carter
CJ Carter's position in UNO's record books has been rapidly rising during his senior season. He is eighth all-time for career assists (320), ninth in steals (133), 10th in 3-pointers made (132), 10th in scoring (1,346 points) and ninth for field goals made (476). On Jan. 18 vs. IUPUI, the Omaha native passed Thor Palamore (1987-91) and moved into the top 10 on the scoring list, and he is now two points away from tying John Karhoff (2010-14) for ninth.

Rebounds by Rostampour
Senior forward Mike Rostampour has been solid on the glass this year, as he ranks second the Summit League for rebounding. The West St. Paul, Minn., native is averaging 7.4 rebounds per game, up from his 5.9 rpg at this point last year.

Rostampour grabbed at least six boards in 11 consecutive games from Dec. 2 to Jan. 10, including his fifth double-digit rebound effort of the season with 13 vs. South Dakota State (Jan. 10).

Tyus On a Tear
Junior guard Marcus Tyus finished with a career-high 25 points at Western Illinois on Jan. 4, shooting 9-of-17 with a pair of threes. He scored in double figures in seven straight contests from Dec. 10 to Jan. 4, averaging 18.0 points per game in that span.

In UNO's last 12 games, Tyus has averaged 15.4 points per game shot 62-of-116 (.534) from the floor, including 21-of-41 (.512) from long range. In the first seven games of the year, Tyus averaged 8.4 points per game and shot 23-55 (.418) overall and 7-of-20 (.350) behind the arc.

In Omaha's start to conference play, Tyus has averaged a 14.7 points per game, up from his 11.8 ppg during the Mavericks' non-conference portion of the schedule.

Terrific Trios
Senior guard CJ Carter and junior guards Devin Patterson and Marcus Tyus are the highest-scoring trio in the Summit League this season. Their combined average of 42.9 points per game is ahead of Oral Roberts' Obi Emegano, Kory Billbury and Bobby Word (39.7 ppg) and South Dakota's Tyler Larson, Brandon Bos and Casey Kasperbauer (39.5 ppg).

Individually, Carter ranks second in the conference with 17.6 ppg, has 14 double-figure scoring games and has led Omaha in scoring seven times. Tyus is also 11th among league scorers with 12.8 ppg, while Patterson is 13th (12.5 ppg).

Stacking Up Nationally
The Mavericks have maintained their place the top 50 in the national statistical rankings, as Omaha's 78.8 points per game ranks 18th among Division I programs, and its 8.4 steals per game are 22nd. UNO's 352 free throws made this year are also sixth in the country.

Individually, junior guard Devin Patterson is 13th with 2.4 steals per game.

Up Next
Omaha returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 31, hosting Fort Wayne. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. at Ralston Arena, and the game will be broadcast on 1180 Zone 2 with Gary Sharp and former Maverick Grant Nieland on the call. Links to live stats, audio and video will be available on OMavs.com.