Box Score INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- The Omaha men's basketball team trailed from the opening tip Wednesday night, falling 88-76 to IUPUI at Indiana Farmers Coliseum. The Mavericks are now 17-11 (9-5 Summit League), while the Jaguars improve to 12-16 (8-5 Summit League) in snapping their three-game losing skid.
Senior forward
Jake White led all scorers with 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting and pulled down a team-high six rebounds. Junior guard
Tra-Deon Hollins added 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting with four boards, five assists and four steals. It extended his nation-leading steals total to 111, which ties the Summit League's single-season record set by Cleveland State's Ken Robertson in 1988-89.
Sophomore forward
Tre'Shawn Thurman shot 5-of-8 from the field to total 12 points, and senior guard
Devin Patterson finished with 10 points, four assists and three steals.
IUPUI outshot Omaha from the field -- 56 percent (30-of-54) to 45 percent (32-of-71) -- from 3-point range – 44 percent (7-of-16) to 29 percent (4-of-14) – and at the free throw line – 72 percent (21-of-29) to 57 percent (8-of-14). The Jaguars also won the battle on the glass, outrebounding UNO 43-27. For their part, the Mavericks finished with the advantage in steals (12-5), assists (15-14) and turnovers forced (19-10).
Six players scored in double figures for IUPUI: T.J. Henderson (16), Mason Archie (15), Marcellus Barksdale (15), Darell Combs (13), Aaron Brennan (10) and Nick Osborne (10). Matt O'Leary added nine points and a game-high eight rebounds.
The Mavericks struggled to gain momentum in the first half as IUPUI canned 55 percent from the floor and outrebounded UNO 22-12. The Jaguars did their scoring damage in spurts, first using an 8-0 stretch to double up UNO at 12-6 before five straight points from senior guard
Tim Smallwood pulled the Mavericks within one. Another 6-0 Jaguar run then made it 18-11, and IUPUI maintained at least a five-point lead from there.
At 4:05, leading 30-25, the Jaguars started a 12-1 closing run on an Osborne dunk. Barksdale poured in the remaining 10 points over the last 3:08, including a corner 3-pointer to cap the half that gave IUPUI a 42-27 lead.
O'Leary hit a jumper to start the second half, giving the Jaguars their largest lead of 17. The Mavericks got it back to a single-digit deficit on a three-point play by White, which made it 52-44 with 14:01 to go. At 8:25, Smallwood got a midcourt steal and tossed in a layup to cut it to 63-57, but Omaha never brought it any closer. IUPUI immediately went on a 10-0 run, surging to a 73-57 advantage by 5:53 before going on to net the 88-76 win.
Omaha returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 20, visiting Fort Wayne. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. (CT) at Gates Sports Center, and Gary Sharp will have the radio call on 1620 The Zone. Links to live stats, audio and video will be available on OMavs.com.