Box Score OMAHA, Neb. -- The Omaha men's basketball team moved within half a game of first place in the Summit League standings Wednesday night, knocking off conference leader South Dakota State 96-92 at Baxter Arena. With the win, the Mavericks improve to 16-10 (8-4 Summit League), while the Jackrabbits drop to 19-6 (8-3 Summit League).

Junior guard Tra-Deon Hollins had a dominant and well-rounded performance, finishing with a career-high 28 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the floor, hitting 2-of-2 from 3-point range and going 8-of-11 at the free throw line. The Omaha Central product flirted with a triple-double, adding a game-high nine rebounds, eight assists, four steals and a block.

Sophomore forward Tre'Shawn Thurman came up with 19 points on 8-of-9 shooting, six boards, a steal, an assist and a block. Senior forward Jake White chipped in 18 points with a career-best four 3-pointers, and junior guard Devin Patterson posted 15 points with a trio of threes and four assists.

As a team, Omaha shot a season-high 59 percent (33-of-56) from the field, a season-best 61 percent (11-of-18) from 3-point range and 66 percent (19-of-29) at the stripe. South Dakota State finished at 52 percent (33-of-63) from the floor, 48 percent (15-of-31) from downtown and 92 percent (11-of-12) at the line. The Jacks outrebounded Omaha 30-28.

Reed Tellinghuisen led SDSU with 21 points on 7-of-9 3-point shooting, and Mike Daum added 20 points and six rebounds. George Marshall also had 18 points and eight assists, while Deondre Parks rounded it out with 15 points and six boards.

Omaha and South Dakota State both shot lights out in the first half, with the Mavericks at 61 percent (14-of-23) from the floor and 80 percent (4-of-5) from three. For their part, the Jackrabbits shot at a 58 percent clip (18-of-31) with nine 3-pointers, with five from Tellinghuisen alone. Hollins countered for UNO, leading the way with 17 points.

After trailing early, UNO clawed back within one on a 7-0 run to make it 22-21. The Jacks, however, surged to their largest lead at 37-27 with 4:48 to go on Tellinghuisen's fifth trey of the half. The Mavericks eventually got within three by 43-40 after Hollins' third steal and the ensuing layup, but Parks hit a second-chance three at the buzzer to close the half with SDSU up 46-40.

Omaha clawed back within one early in the second half on a Patterson three, making it 52-51. Following an SDSU turnover on the next possession, the Mavs went ahead 53-52 on a fastbreak layup by senior guard/forward Randy Reed II, leading for the first time since 16:38 the first half. Back-to-back buckets by senior guard Tim Smallwood erased a brief three-point SDSU lead and put UNO ahead again, 63-62, and White strung together five consecutive points in a 34-second span to keep Omaha's advantage at one, 68-67. The Mavs then benefited from a steal by senior guard Kyler Erickson, which led to Hollins tip-in to make it 70-67.

Three 3-pointers from White and Patterson, as well as two White free throws, gave Omaha its largest lead of the night, 81-72, with 6:38 to go. South Dakota State steadily rallied, however, tying the game at 84-84 after a three-point play by Daum capped a 9-0 run. A Patterson free throw halted the stretch, but Daum later drained a three with 3:59 to go, putting the Jacks up 87-85. A fastbreak layup by Hollins knotted it again at 87-all, and he fed Thurman for a triple from the left wing on the next possession for a 90-87 lead with 2:20 left.

Five points from Marshall from 1:42 to 1:03 sandwiched a Hollins jumper and tied the game again at 92-92, but the Mavericks used a Thurman putback with 32 seconds remaining to take the lead for the final time. After Hollins blocked a shot on the other end and SDSU committed two turnovers, two Thurman free throws in the last seven seconds iced the Mavericks' victory.

Omaha is next in action on Saturday, Feb. 13, hosting North Dakota State. 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.