This Weekend
The Omaha men's basketball team returns home this weekend, welcoming Fort Wayne on Saturday, Jan. 31. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. at Ralston Arena in Omaha, Neb., and the game will be broadcast live on 1180 Zone 2 with Gary Sharp and former Maverick Grant Nieland 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 Fort Wayne Mastodons        
Fort Wayne brings a 10-11 overall record and a 3-5 conference mark into Saturday's game at Omaha. The Mastodons picked up a 66-55 win at South Dakota on Thursday, led by Steve Forbes' 21 points. Joe Edwards added 14 points, while Mo Evans dished out eight assists and grabbed five rebounds, and Isaiah McCray contributed another nine boards. The Mastodons shot 53.2 percent as a team in Thursday night's contest.

Head coach Jon Coffman is in his first year as head coach at Fort Wayne, and he holds a career coaching mark of 10-11.

Saturday marks the seventh meeting between Fort Wayne and Omaha, with IPFW leading the all-time series 5-1. The two teams last met on March 1, 2014, when Fort Wayne earned a 96-95 overtime win at Ralston Arena. UNO's last triumph over Fort Wayne came on Jan. 31, 2013 with an 86-79 triumph at home.

Quick Hits
•Three Mavericks lead the Summit League in a statistical category: senior forward Mike Rostampour in offensive rebounds (61), senior guard CJ Carter in field goals made (123) and junior guard Devin Patterson in steals (42).
•Junior guard Marcus Tyus has tallied a double-digit scoring total in 11 of the last 13 contests since Dec. 10.
•Carter is averaging 20.1 points per game over the first eight games of Summit League play. Overall, he is also second in the league for scoring with 17.3 ppg.
•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 75.4, behind only VMI (79.5).
•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 in 10 of its 20 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, 10 vs. Denver and 18 at South Dakota State.
•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: South Dakota State Takes Down Mavericks, 86-64
Omaha dropped a Summit League contest to South Dakota State on Wednesday night, falling 86-64 at Frost Arena. Senior forward Mike Rostampour paced the Mavericks with a season-high-tying 18 points and 11 rebounds, marking the seventh double-double of his career and his fourth of the season.

Senior guard CJ Carter added 12 points, two rebounds, four steals, two steals and a block, and freshman forward Tre'Shawn Thurman rounded it out with 10 points alongside four boards. Junior guard Devin Patterson also chipped in eight points, four rebounds, a pair of assists and two steals, and junior forward Jake White notched another seven points.

As a team, Omaha shot .333 (22-of-66) from the field, .188 (3-of-16) from long range and .654 (17-of-26) at the free throw line. South Dakota State finished at .565 (26-of-46) from the floor, .500 (10-of-20) beyond the arc and .828 (24-of-29) at the charity stripe.

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 scoring (1,358 points), assists (322) and steals (137), ninth for field goals made (480) and 10th in 3-pointers made (133). On Jan. 28 at South Dakota State, the Omaha native passed John Karhoff (2010-14) and Calvin Forrest (1970-74) and moved up to eighth on the scoring list, and he is now five points away from tying Seth Nelson (1999-2003) for seventh.

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 7.6 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. He achieved his fourth double-double of the year -- and the seventh of his career -- at South Dakota State on Wednesday, finishing with a season-high-tying 18 points with 11 rebounds, which was also his sixth double-digit rebound effort of the season.

White Out
Despite nagging injury issues to start the season, junior forward Jake White has been highly productive in the time he has seen on the court. Over 11 appearances, including one start in the season opener, White has averaged 7.6 points and 5.6 rebounds per game, the latter of which ranks third on the team. In those contests, he has had three double-figure scoring efforts and two double-figure rebounding performances, including a season-high 13 points at South Dakota (Jan. 2) and a season-best 11 boards twice, vs. Central Arkansas (Nov. 16) and at UMKC (Dec. 13).

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 13 games, Tyus has averaged 14.5 points per game shot 62-of-123 (.504) from the floor, including 21-of-44 (.477) 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 13.4 points per game, up from his 11.8 ppg during the Mavericks' non-conference portion of the schedule.

Home Sweet Home
The 2014-15 season marks UNO's third and final 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 eight conference games, and in total they have 13 games on the slate at Ralston. In 2015-16, Omaha will move its games to the on-campus UNO/Community Arena, which is currently being constructed just south of Aksarben Village between 64th and 67th streets on Center Street.

Last season, Omaha was 11-4 at Ralston Arena. UNO's 11 home wins came at an average margin of 21.4 points, and the Mavs scored an average of 82.3 points per game on their home court while holding their opponents to 69.8.

On Nov. 16, UNO opened its season at Ralston Arena, defeating Central Arkansas by a 100-75 tally. It followed with wins over Nevada, 78-54 on Nov. 29, Iowa Wesleyan, 94-67 on Dec. 10, Northern Colorado, 92-82 on Dec. 17 and UT Pan American, 77-72 on Dec. 21. North Dakota State, South Dakota State and IUPUI dealt the Mavericks three straight losses before UNO earned an 80-69 win over Denver on Jan. 24. UNO's average margin of victory at home is 17.0, and they score an average of 82.8 points per game.

Over three years at Ralston, Omaha has posted a home record of 24-13.

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 42.0 points per game is ahead of Oral Roberts' Obi Emegano, Kory Billbury and Bobby Word (40.0 ppg) and North Dakota State's Lawrence Alexander, AJ Jacobson and Kory Brown (38.9 ppg).

Individually, Carter ranks second in the conference with 17.3 ppg, has 15 double-figure scoring games and has led Omaha in scoring seven times. Tyus is also 12th among league scorers with 12.4 ppg, while Patterson is 13th (12.3 ppg).

Stacking Up Nationally
The Mavericks have maintained their place the top 50 in the national statistical rankings, as Omaha's 78.1 points per game ranks 20th among Division I programs, and its 8.4 steals per game are 23rd. UNO's 369 free throws made this year are also sixth in the country.

Individually, junior guard Devin Patterson is 12th with 2.3 steals per game.

Up Next
Omaha returns to action on Thursday, Feb. 5, visiting North Dakota State. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. in Fargo, N.D., the game will be broadcast on 1180 Zone 2 with Gary Sharp on the call. Links to live stats, audio and video will be available on OMavs.com.