VERMILLION, S.D. -- The Omaha men's basketball team staged a furious comeback Saturday afternoon, rallying from a 21-point second-half deficit to defeat South Dakota 79-73 at the DakotaDome. With the win, the Mavericks extended their win streak to six games, maintained their place atop the Summit League standings and improved to 12-6 (4-0 Summit League). The Coyotes dropped to 9-9 (1-3 Summit League) on the season.

Junior guard Tra-Deon Hollins paced the Mavericks with a game-high 17 points, five rebounds, eight assists and five steals. The Omaha Central product shot 4-of-6 from the field, including 3-of-3 from 3-point range, and 6-of-6 at the line. His second-half performance included 13 points on three 3-pointers, four assists and three steals to ignite Omaha's rally.

Senior guard Devin Patterson was right behind Hollins with 16 points with perfect 9-of-9 free throw shooting. Senior forward Jake White added 15 points and a game-high six rebounds, and sophomore forward Tre'Shawn Thurman put up 11 points, three boards and a career-high-tying five blocks. Senior guard/forward Randy Reed II rounded it out with 10 points, chipping in four caroms, two assists and a steal.

Omaha hit 47 percent (22-of-47) of its shots from the floor, 43 percent (6-of-14) behind the arc and 83 percent (29-of-35) at the stripe. South Dakota shot 49 percent (33-of-68) from the field, 33 percent (4-of-12) from long range and 100 percent (3-of-3) at the line. The Coyotes held the edge in rebounding (31-29) and assists (15-14), while the Mavericks had the advantage in blocks (5-3). South Dakota forced 15 Omaha turnovers, converting those into 24 points.

USD had four players score in double figures: Shy McClelland (15), Tre Burnette (14), Eric Robertson (13) and D.J. Davis (11).

South Dakota led for nearly the entire first half, with a 10-0 scoring run helping it surge ahead 29-15 with 5:52 until halftime. Holding the Mavericks to 36 percent (8-of-22) shooting while hitting 49 percent (17-of-35) themselves, the Coyotes took a 38-26 at the half. Burnette led all scorers with 12 points.

USD opened the second stanza by outscoring Omaha 14-5, which gave the Coyotes a 52-31 lead by 15:12. From 11:51 to 9:08, the Mavericks whittled it to an eight-point margin on the back of a 12-2 run, with a Thurman triple capping it at 58-50.

After five straight points from McClelland, a Hollins three at 7:53 then sparked a 13-2 spurt that pulled the Mavericks within two, 65-63. Hollins later hit another key 3-pointer, this time the go-ahead shot from the corner that finally gave Omaha a 72-70 lead with 1:53 to go. Though Casey Kasperbauer knocked down a three of his own to get the Coyotes within one with under a minute left, a layup and two free throws from Patterson and another foul shot from Erickson allowed UNO to pull away for the 79-73 win.

Omaha returns to action Saturday, Jan. 16, hosting Fort Wayne. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. at Baxter Arena, and Gary Sharp and Grant Nieland will have the radio call on 1180 Zone 2. Links to live stats, audio and video will be available on OMavs.com.