This Week
The Omaha men's basketball team leaves the confines of home this weekend, traveling to North Dakota State on Thursday, Feb. 5. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at Scheels Arena in Fargo, N.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. The game will also be televised in North Dakota on MeTV.
    
Scouting the North Dakota State Bison        
North Dakota State brings a 15-7 overall record and a 7-2 conference mark into Thursday's game with Omaha. The Bison picked up a 64-62 win at Western Illinois on Sunday, led by 17 points from Kory Brown. The league's leading scorer, Lawrence Alexander, also had 14 points, while Chris Kading added 12 and A.J. Jacobson hit three 3-pointers en route to 11 points.

Head coach David Richman is in his first year as head coach at North Dakota State, and he holds a career coaching mark of 15-7.

Thursday marks the 67th meeting between NDSU and UNO, with the Bison leading the all-time series 40-26. The two teams last met on Jan. 8, when NDSU earned a 75-72 victory at Ralston Arena. UNO's last win over North Dakota State came on March 5, 2004 with an 81-74 overtime triumph at the NCC Tournament, and the Mavericks last defeated the Bison in Fargo on Dec. 29, 2001, 74-65.

Quick Hits
•Two Mavericks lead the Summit League in a statistical category: senior forward Mike Rostampour in offensive rebounds (62) and junior guard Devin Patterson in steals (44).
•Junior guard Marcus Tyus has tallied a double-digit scoring total in 12 of the last 14 contests since Dec. 10.
•Senior guard CJ Carter is averaging 19.7 points per game in Summit League play. Overall, he is also third in the league for scoring with 17.2 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 six players who average 7.0 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 75.5, behind only VMI (79.5).
•When scoring 40 or more points in the first half, Omaha has gone 5-1 this season.
•Since the 2012-13 season, Omaha is 20-15 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: Fort Wayne Defeats Mavericks, 75-65
Omaha returned home Saturday afternoon, falling to Fort Wayne 75-65 at Ralston Arena. Seniors Mike Rostampour and CJ Carter led the Mavericks offensively. Rostampour finished with a team-high-tying 16 points on an 8-of-13 shooting effort. The forward from West St. Paul, Minn., added a team-best seven boards and a block in 29 minutes. Carter contributed 16 points as well, chipping in four rebounds, four assists and a career-high-tying three blocks. The Omaha native shot 6-of-11 from the field with a pair of threes in 37 minutes of action.

Junior guard Marcus Tyus also finished in double figures, totaling 12 points, four boards, three assists and a steal. Junior guard Devin Patterson added 10 points, two rebounds, two steals and a helper.

As a team, Omaha shot .472 (25-of-53) from the field, .375 (6-of-16) from downtown and .692 (9-of-13) from the charity stripe. Fort Wayne finished the day shooting .446 (29-of-65) from the floor, .261 (6-of-23) beyond the arc and .846 (11-of-13) at the foul line.

House of Carter
CJ Carter's position in UNO's record books has been rapidly rising during his senior season. He is seventh all-time for career scoring (1,374 points), eighth for assists (326) and steals (137), ninth for field goals made (486) and 10th in 3-pointers made (135). On Jan. 31 against Fort Wayne, the Omaha native passed Seth Nelson (1999-2003) and moved up to seventh on the scoring list, and he is now 13 points away from tying Mike Simons (1996-2000) for sixth.

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 6.3 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.

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 14 games, Tyus has averaged 14.4 points per game and shot 66-of-132 (.500) from the floor, including 21-of-46 (.457) 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 13.2 points per game, up from his 11.8 ppg during the Mavericks' non-conference portion of the schedule.

While senior guard CJ Carter was the last Maverick to cross the 1,000 career points threshold, Tyus is the next UNO player on track to join the prestigious scoring club. Through Jan. 31, he has amassed 747 points in two and a half seasons.

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 41.8 points per game is ahead of Oral Roberts' Obi Emegano, Kory Billbury and Denell Henderson (40.3 ppg) and North Dakota State's Lawrence Alexander, Kory Brown and AJ Jacobson (39.1 ppg).

Individually, Carter ranks third in the conference with 17.2 ppg, has 16 double-figure scoring games and has led Omaha in scoring eight times. Tyus is also 12th among league scorers with 12.4 ppg, while Patterson is 13th (12.2 ppg).

Carter for Three
Senior guard CJ Carter has the most performances with multiple 3-pointers made of any Maverick this season. He has made at least two threes on at least 13 occasions, and his 41 total treys lead the team. Additionally, Carter hit 7-of-8 from long range on Jan. 18 in his 45-point scoring effort, a career best for both scoring and triples made.

Wiping Down the Offensive Glass
UNO has tallied double-digit offensive rebounds in 13 of its 21 games this year: 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.

Only three other teams in the Summit League have had more games with double-digit offensive boards: South Dakota (19), Oral Roberts (15) and IUPUI (15).

Stacking Up Nationally
The Mavericks have maintained their place the top 50 in the national statistical rankings, as Omaha's 77.5 points per game ranks 21st among Division I programs, and its 8.3 steals per game are 23rd. UNO's 378 free throws made this year are also 13th in the country.

Individually, junior guard Devin Patterson is 15th with 2.3 steals per game.

Up Next
Omaha returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 7, visiting Denver. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. (CT) at Magness Arena in Denver, Colo., 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.