OMAHA, Neb. -- The Omaha men's basketball team rallied from a 16-point deficit but its comeback fell just short Saturday afternoon, as the Mavericks suffered a 75-72 loss to Denver at Baxter Arena. UNO is now 15-10 (7-4 Summit League), while the Pioneers improve to 13-11 (5-6 Summit League).

Senior guard Devin Patterson paced Omaha with a game-leading 26 points for his ninth 20-point performance of the season. The Portsmouth, Va., native was a perfect 7-of-7 at the free throw line and added a game-high six assists, three rebounds and three steals.

Sophomore forward Tre'Shawn Thurman added 17 points, shooting 5-of-8 from the floor. Junior guard Tra-Deon Hollins chipped in seven points, a team-high six rebounds, a game-best seven steals, three assists and two blocks.

Omaha shot 41 percent (23-of-56) from the field, 39 percent (5-of-13) behind the arc and 75 percent (21-of-28) at the line. Denver hit 43 percent (21-of-49) from the floor, 42 percent (8-of-19) from long range and 86 percent (25-of-29) at the stripe. The Pioneers held the advantage on the glass, 39-25, with a 16-12 edge on the offensive end, which led to outscoring Omaha 20-8 in second-chance points. UNO, for its part, forced 18 turnovers with 12 steals, scoring 19 points off miscues.

The Pioneers, who never trailed in the game, were led by 14 points and nine rebounds in reserve from Christian Mackey. Nate Engesser added 13 points, while C.J. Bobbitt and Thomas Neff had 11 apiece and Marcus Byrd had another 10 with eight boards.

Denver controlled the glass in the first half, outrebounding Omaha 22-11, including 11-4 on the offensive end. The Pioneers led early until the Mavericks evened the score at 14-14 on a White 3-pointer with 12:17 to go. DU then built its largest lead of the half, 27-16, by 6:52 with a trio of threes from Engesser and Byrd, a Mackey layup and a Duke Douglas dunk. Omaha, however, whittled Denver's lead to 35-31 by halftime.

In the second half, a 9-0 DU run lifted the Pioneers to their biggest advantage of the game, 54-38, with 12:13 remaining. Three minutes later, Hollins hit a triple from the corner to start a 7-0 Maverick run that made it 59-52 with 8:50 to go. Approaching the four-minute mark, Smallwood drilled another three from the corner to cut it to 66-62, and a three-point play by Patterson reduced the deficit to three at 68-65 with 3:02 left.

The Mavericks finally tied it on a stepback jumper from Patterson, evening the score, 68-68, at 1:45. But a Neff 3-pointer with 1:12 left put the Pioneers ahead again. After a Patterson layup made it 71-70 DU, a layup on the other end by Douglas stretched Denver's lead to three again. Two Mackey free throws finished it off for the Pioneers, who picked up the 75-72 win.

Omaha returns to action on Wednesday, Feb. 6, hosting South Dakota State. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at Baxter Arena, and the game will be broadcast live on ESPN3 and Midco. Gary Sharp and Grant Nieland will also have the radio broadcast on 1180 Zone2, and links to live video, audio and stats will be available on OMavs.com.