Box Score FARGO, N.D. -- The Omaha men's basketball team began another challenging road stretch on Thursday, falling 64-57 to North Dakota State at Scheels Arena. The Mavericks are now 8-14 (2-8 Summit League), while the Bison, who secured their 22nd consecutive home win, improve to 16-7 (8-2 Summit League).
Omaha was paced by junior guard Marcus Tyus, who shot 7-of-13 with four 3-pointers to finish with 21 points. The Ramsey, Minn., native added two rebounds and an assist for the night.
Senior forward Mike Rostampour also had a double-figure scoring performance, totaling 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting. He also pulled down a game-high eight rebounds and had one assist and one steal. Junior forward Jake White matched Rostampour with another eight rebounds, as he made his first start since Omaha's season opener against Central Arkansas on Nov. 16.
As a team, UNO shot .407 (22-of-54) from the field, .294 (5-of-17) beyond the arc and .800 (8-of-10) at the line. NDSU came in at .440 (22-of-50) from the floor, .381 (8-of-21) from long range and .800 (12-of-15) at the stripe. Omaha won the rebounding battle, 33-29.
North Dakota State was led by 18 points from Lawrence Alexander, who hit a trio of 3-pointers and added two assists and three steals. A.J. Jacobson also had 15 points for the Bison, alongside three boards and four assists.
Rostampour came out firing for the Mavericks, as his seven points in the first four minutes put Omaha ahead 9-8. After trading leads, a Tyus 3-pointer and a Randy Reed jumper put UNO back up 22-21 with 6:51 left, but NDSU tied it once more at 26-26 on back-to-back scores by Carlin Dupree. A bucket from Tyus then put Omaha ahead again, beginning a 7-0 scoring spurt to make it 33-26 with less than a minute to play. North Dakota State managed one more basket before the end of the half, and Omaha took a 33-28 advantage into the locker room.
In the second half, Omaha held on to its lead through the first media timeout at 15:56, at which point the Mavericks were up 37-36. An Alexander free throw and jumper from Dexter Werner put the Bison up by two before UNO tied it at 39-all on a Rostampour jumper. After trading leads again, Tyus hit a 3-pointer that made it 42-41, which was ultimately UNO's final advantage in the game. The Bison used threes from Jacobson and Paul Miller to sandwich a 14-6 scoring run, which put NDSU up seven.
The lead was stretched to double digits at 62-53 with 0:32 to go, and the Mavericks threatened with a Patterson layup and Tyus 3-pointer cut the margin to six with 0:21 remaining. After a Miller foul shot, the Mavericks put up three 3-point attempts but all fell short, and North Dakota State went on to the 6 North Dakota State went on to the 64-57 win.
Omaha returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 7, traveling to Denver. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. (CT) at Magness Arena in Denver, Colo., and the game will be broadcast live on 1180 Zone 2 with Gary Sharp on the call. Links to live stats, audio and video will also be available on OMavs.com.