This Week
The Omaha men's basketball team plays a single game this week, visiting North Dakota State on Thursday, Jan. 25 at 7 p.m. at the Scheels Center in Fargo, N.D. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3 and Midco, and Gary Sharp will have the radio call on 1180 Zone 2. Links to live stats, audio and video will be available on OMavs.com.
Quick Hits
• Omaha's last win in Fargo, N.D., was Jan. 7, 2016 by a score of 91-82.
• Four Mavericks are averaging double-figure scoring:
Zach Jackson (18.5 ppg),
Daniel Norl (12.9 ppg),
Mitch Hahn (12.2 ppg) and
JT Gibson (11.6 ppg).
• Jackson has tallied in double figures in 16 straight games and in that span, has averaged 19.7 points and 7.3 rebounds while shooting .569 from the field, .480 from 3-point range and .838 from the free throw line.
• Over the last seven games, Norl has averaged 15.6 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.4 steals per contest. He has collected 23 assists with just six turnovers.
• Jackson is 29th nationally for points scored (406) and 25th for field goals made (142).
•
Ayo Akinwole's 2.4 assist-to-turnover ratio is third among Summit League players.
• Four Mavericks have had at least one 20-point scoring performance this season.
• Head coach
Derrin Hansen earned his 200th career victory Dec. 17 vs. Cornell College.
• By Dec. 3, Omaha had played in all four time zones in the contiguous United States.
• The Mavericks shot .500 or better as a team in four straight games from Nov. 20-29 and nine times overall this year.
• Omaha came a shot shy of its first NCAA Tournament bid in the Division I era last season, falling 79-77 to South Dakota State in the Summit League Championship. The Mavericks were 18-14 (9-7 Summit League) en route to their second straight third-place finish in the regular-season standings.
• Omaha returned seven letterwinners from its 2016-17 squad, including a Summit League All-Newcomer pick in Hahn.
Scouting the North Dakota State Bison
North Dakota State is 10-10 (2-3 Summit League) following a 92-88 loss at Fort Wayne last Saturday. The Bison were led by 21 points apiece from A.J. Jacobson and Paul Miller.
Head coach David Richman is in his fourth season with NDSU, carrying a career record of 72-44.
Thursday's game marks the 72nd meeting all-time between Omaha and North Dakota State, with the Bison leading the series, 42-29. The two teams last met on Feb. 25, 2017 at Baxter Arena, where the Mavericks prevailed 96-92.
Last Time Out: Mavericks Fall 85-71 to South Dakota
Omaha dropped a Summit League matchup to South Dakota Saturday night, falling 85-71 at Baxter Arena. Junior
Zach Jackson led the Mavericks with 18 points, six rebounds, a career-high-tying four assists and two steals, marking his 16th straight double-figure scoring performance. The Wichita, Kan., native shot 7-of-13 from the field.
Senior
Lamar Wofford-Humphrey (15), sophomore
JT Gibson (12) and senior
Daniel Norl (10) joined Jackson in double figures. Gibson chipped in four boards and two assists for the night.
Omaha shot .500 (29-of-58) from the field, while South Dakota finished at .492 (29-of-59). The Coyotes had a 36-25 rebounding advantage, including 11-6 on the offensive end with an 18-6 second-chance scoring edge.
Action Jackson
Junior
Zach Jackson is in his third year as a starter, averaging a team bests of 18.5 points and 6.8 rebounds per game with a .540 shooting percentage. The Wichita, Kan., native has scored in double figures in all but one game, including eight 20-point scoring performances.
Jackson ranks in the top 10 in the Summit League in multiple categories: third for points (406), field goals made (142) and free throws made (91), fourth for points per game (18.5), fifth for defensive rebounds (109), sixth for field goal percentage (.540), 3-point percentage (.437) and total rebounds (150), seventh for offensive rebounds (41) and steals (25) and eighth for rebounds per game (6.8) and free throw percentage (.805).
Against high major opponents this season, Jackson averaged 18.3 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 1.2 steals and 0.7 blocks in six games. Combined against Oklahoma, New Mexico, Louisville, TCU, Washington and Kansas, he has shot .507 from the field and .763 at the stripe.
Gibson at Full Strength
Sophomore
JT Gibson, who assumed a starting spot Dec. 9, is fourth on the team for scoring with 11.6 points per game. The Brooklyn Park, Minn., native has 10 double-figure scoring efforts this season. Omaha's triples leader, he has hit at least one 3-pointer in 18 straight games since Nov. 20 and owns 14 performances with two or more treys this season. Additionally, he is a perfect 21-of-21 at the free throw line since beginning his streak Nov. 14 at New Mexico.
Gibson ranks eighth in the Summit League for 3-pointers made (45) and 10th for steals (23) and assists (64).
Gibson had a second go at his man campaign in 2016-17. In 2015-16, he appeared in eight games off the bench before suffering a season-ending elbow injury that led to a medical redshirt.
Here's to You, Mr. Robinson
Sophomore
KJ Robinson appeared in all but one game last season, averaging 2.5 points and 0.7 assists over 8.8 minutes per contest off the bench. He has now assumed a starting role in 2017-18 season.
A native of Blue Springs, Mo., Robinson had a standout performance vs. No. 18 Louisville (Nov. 17) with a then-career-high 14 points, three rebounds, five assists and three steals. He followed by dishing out a career-best eight assists at TCU (Nov. 20) while adding 11 points, four rebounds and a steal. Against Tennessee Tech (Nov. 24), Robinson went off for a career-high 25 points while hitting seven 3-pointers and adding five rebounds, five assists and a block. It was the most threes in a game by any Maverick since
Marcus Tyus had eight at South Dakota State (Jan, 7, 2017).
Robinson had four straight double-figure scoring performances from Nov. 17-25.
Norl Off to a Strong Start
Senior
Daniel Norl has been strong in his senior season, ranking second on the team for scoring with 12.9 points per game. The Clarksville, Tenn., native earned his first career start at Montana State (Nov. 10), exploding for career highs of 29 points, nine rebounds and two steals while shooting 13-of-18. He posted his second 20-point effort with a game-high 23 points, three boards, a career-high-tying seven assists and a career-best three steals at Oral Roberts (Dec. 30).
With 94 assists to his credit, he is Omaha's active career leader in the category, and he is eighth in the league for assists (65) this season.
Norl made his Maverick debut in 2016-17, appearing in 29 contests and averaging 5.6 points, 1.4 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 15.6 minutes per game. He had eight double-figure scoring performances as a junior, including a season-high 14 points with four 3-pointers in Omaha's quarterfinal win over Fort Wayne in the Summit League Tournament. He accounted for 10 performances with at least two 3-pointers.
Wofford-Humphrey Making a Difference
Senior
Lamar Wofford-Humphrey had a standout effort at No. 18 Louisville (Nov. 17), tallying his first double-double as a Maverick with 14 points, a team-high 12 rebounds, three steals, a block and an assist.
The transfer from Eastern Michigan has nine double-figure scoring games to his credit, including a career-high 18 points at Western Illinois (Jan. 11) on 7-of-9 shooting with a trio of 3-pointers. He has the team lead and ranks fifth in the Summit League for offensive rebounds (43).
The Pile Driver
Freshman
Matt Pile averaged 6.3 minutes per game over the first three contests this season but has seen his court time increase to 17.8 minutes per game since then. In that stretch, Pile has boosted his averages to 7.4 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game while shooting .681 off the bench.
Pile notched his first career double-double vs. Doane (Jan. 2) with career highs of 18 points and 10 rebounds and 9-of-11 shooting. He put together a six-block performance vs. Denver (Jan. 18), which marked the most of any Maverick since Adam Wetzel's six in 2002. Pile ranks third in the Summit League for blocks (25) this season.
Welcome Back, Renard
Senior
Renard Suggs made his Maverick debut vs. Montana State (Dec. 21) and has moved up to average double-digit minutes off the bench. The Washington State transfer scored in double figures in back-to-back games with 14 points at Oral Roberts (Dec. 30) and 13 vs. Doane (Jan. 2), and he has averaged 5.9 points over his first eight games.
Suggs is the son of former Maverick standout Rickey Suggs. The elder Suggs played basketball at UNO from 1980-85, was part of three Omaha squads to play in the NCAA Tournament (1981-82, 1982-83, 1983-84) and went on to a professional football career in the Canadian Football League.
2017-18 Slate = Tough Test for Mavericks
Omaha's 2017-18 schedule includes 30 games, and the team will play in 16 states against schools from 11 other Division I conferences. The schedule has three opponents from the Big 12 and one each from the ACC, Pac-12, Mountain West, MVC, Big West, Sun Belt, Big Sky, OVC and SWAC. Three opponents – Kansas, Louisville and defending Summit League champion South Dakota State – played in the 2017 NCAA Tournament, with KU reaching the Elite Eight.
Up Next
Omaha visits South Dakota State on Tuesday, Jan. 30, with tipoff set for 7 p.m. in Brookings, S.D. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3 and Midco, and Gary Sharp will have the radio call on 1180 Zone 2. Links to live stats, audio and video will be available on OMavs.com.
