VERMILLION, S.D. – The Omaha men's basketball team rallied for a gritty road triumph to open conference play on Friday night, defeating South Dakota 86-77 at the DakotaDome. With the win, the Mavericks improved to 7-6 (1-0 Summit League), while the Coyotes dropped to 6-9 (0-1 Summit League).

Senior guard CJ Carter led all scorers with a game-high 24 points, shooting 10-of-23 from the field with a pair of 3-pointers. The Omaha Benson product added two rebounds, four assists, a steal and a block for the night.

Junior guard Marcus Tyus added 19 points on 5-of-8 shooting, along with two boards, two assists and three steals. Junior forward Jake White also scored in double figures, totaling 13 points with eight caroms, a block and a steal, and senior forward Mike Rostampour finished with 10 points, six rebounds, an assist and a block.

Freshman forward Tre'Shawn Thurman posted his second straight double-figure rebound performance, pulling down a game-high-tying 12 boards. Thurman added six points, two assists, a steal and a blocked shot.

As a team, Omaha shot 29-of-61 (.475) to South Dakota's 28-of-70 (.400). The Coyotes hit 10 threes for the night, including eight in the first half alone. The two teams were identical in rebounding, 38-38, and the Mavericks forced 13 USD turnovers while committing a season-low nine of their own.

South Dakota was paced by Tyler Larson's double-double on 17 points and 12 rebounds along with four assists. Brandon Bos added another 17 points with a trio of 3-pointers, and Casey Kasperbauer had 11 points with three more triples.

Omaha faced a battle from the start, as USD took a 7-0 start to the game. The Mavericks worked back to take their first lead at 19-18, as junior guard Tim Smallwood poured in a three with 8:16 to go. UNO then used two buckets by Carter to go up 23-20, before a Kasperbauer 3-pointer ignited a 21-6 run with four treys. South Dakota closed the first stanza up 41-29.

The second half saw a complete turnaround, as Omaha improved its shooting from .364 to .607 and exploded for 57 second-half points. The Mavericks evened the score at 55-55 with back-to-back 3-pointers by Carter, which capped a 12-0 UNO scoring run. Omaha and South Dakota then traded leads until the 4:30 mark, when a jumpshot by White secured the lead for good at 72-71. The Mavericks surged further with a Thurman jumper, followed by a long Thurman pass to Carter for a layup and a free throw from White, which extended the lead to 79-73 with 2:22 left. Two more foul shots by Thurman at 1:13 gave UNO an eight-point advantage at 81-73, and White finished it off in the final minute with three more free throws, bringing the final score to 86-77.

Omaha returns to action on Sunday, Jan. 4, traveling to Western Illinois. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. at Western Hall in Macomb, Ill., and the radio broadcast with Gary Sharp will be carried on 1180 Zone 2. Links to live stats, audio and video will be available on OMavs.com.