Omaha Athletics

This Week
The Omaha men's basketball team opens the second half of Summit League play with a single game this week, visiting South Dakota State on Tuesday, Jan. 30. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at Frost Arena in Brookings, S.D., and the game will be broadcast live on ESPN3 and Midco. Gary Sharp will have the radio call on 1180 Zone 2, and links to live stats, audio and video will be available on OMavs.com.
 
Quick Hits
• Four Mavericks are averaging double-figure scoring: Zach Jackson (18.1 ppg), Daniel Norl (12.9 ppg), Mitch Hahn (11.7 ppg) and JT Gibson (11.3 ppg).
• Jackson has tallied in double figures in 17 straight games and in that span, has averaged 19.1 points and 7.1 rebounds while shooting .556 from the field, .471 from 3-point range and .845 from the free throw line.
• Jackson averaged 17.4 points per game in non-conference games and is up to 19.6 ppg in league play. He also has 1.9 assists per game in league games, compared to 0.6 apg in non-conference.
• Norl is averaging three more points per game against league foes, up to 15.0 ppg from 12.0 ppg in non-conference.
• Ayo Akinwole's 2.4 assist-to-turnover ratio is third among Summit League players.
• Norl has a 2.2 assist-to-turnover ratio in the first half of league play.
• 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 South Dakota State Jackrabbits
South Dakota State is 18-6 (6-1 Summit League) following a 78-76 win over Fort Wayne last Saturday, extending the Jackrabbits' home winning streak to 16 games. Mike Daum led the Jacks with his 12th double-double of the season on 23 points and 14 rebounds, and Tevin King had another with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
 
Head coach T.J. Otzelberger is in his second season with SDSU, carrying a career record of 36-23.
 
Tuesday's game marks the 89th meeting all-time between Omaha and SDSU, with the Jacks leading the series, 56-32. In the Division I era, SDSU has a 7-3 advantage in the series. The two teams last met on Jan. 6 at Baxter Arena, where SDSU prevailed 101-88.
 
Last Time Out: North Dakota State Tops Mavericks, 73-58
Omaha took to the road for its only game of the week Thursday night, falling 73-58 to North Dakota State at the Scheels Center. Senior Daniel Norl posted a team-leading 13 points for Omaha, shooting 4-of-7 from the field and a perfect 4-of-4 at the line. Sophomore KJ Robinson added 12 points and four rebounds, and junior Zach Jackson had 10 points, three boards and team highs of three assists and two steals.
 
Junior Mitch Hahn, making his first appearance since Dec. 5, returned to the starting lineup and finished with nine points, a team-best seven rebounds, an assist and a block.
 
NDSU shot .464 (26-of-56) to Omaha's .426 (20-of-47) and had 11 threes for the night with a 10-of-10 showing at the line. The Bison had a 33-25 edge on the glass.
 
Action Jackson
Junior Zach Jackson is in his third year as a starter, averaging a team bests of 18.1 points and 6.7 rebounds per game with a .531 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 five in the Summit League in five categories: third for free throws made (95), fourth for points (416), points per game (18.1) and field goals made (145) and fifth for field goal percentage (.531).
 
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 is fourth on the team for scoring with 11.3 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 19 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 10th in the Summit League for 3-pointers made (46) and steals (24).
 
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 95 assists to his credit, he is Omaha's active career leader in the category, and he is eighth in the league for assists (66) 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 for offensive rebounds (44).
 
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 18.0 minutes per game since then. In that stretch, Pile has boosted his averages to 7.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game while shooting .688 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 (27) this season.
 
Feelin' Hahn, Hahn, Hahn
Junior Mitch Hahn is back in the lineup after more than seven weeks out due to injury. To start the season, Hahn scored in double figures in three straight games with 12 points at Montana State (Nov. 10), 13 at Oklahoma (Nov. 12) and a season-high 16 at New Mexico (Nov. 14). After missing three games from Nov. 17-25, he returned to the lineup vs. Drake (Nov. 29), posting four points, five rebounds and two assists. He followed up with a double-double on 15 points and 10 rebounds at Washington (Dec. 3) and another with 13 points and 13 rebounds at UC Santa Barbara (Dec. 5). After suffering an injury late in the game Dec. 5 at UCSB, he was out of commission until returning Jan. 25 at North Dakota State.

Hahn averaged 11.6 points per game in his sophomore season in 2016-17, appearing in 31 games before earning his first start in the Summit League Championship Game. For the year, he had 20 double-figure scoring games, including two with 20 or more points, and canned at least five 3-pointers three times. The Fremont, Neb., native ranked sixth in the league for free throw percentage (.838) and 10th for 3-point percentage (.420) and blocks (22), and he capped the year with Summit League All-Newcomer Team recognition.
 
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 5.2 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.
 
More on Meyer
Senior Daniel Meyer made his second collegiate appearance in his home state Nov. 10 with Omaha's season opener at Montana State. The Billings, Mont., native is Omaha's active career leader for games played (104) and blocks (29).
 
Meyer has been mainstay for Omaha over the last few seasons. He appeared in every game in 2015-16 and 2016-17, making 11 starts as a junior and finishing the year with 2.8 points and 3.1 rebounds per game. He had one of his best performances in league play, pulling down a season-high nine rebounds with two blocks vs. Oral Roberts.
 
Off the court, Meyer is a fully-rated instrument and private aircraft pilot.
 
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 Western Illinois on Thursday, Feb. 8, with tipoff set for 7 p.m. Baxter Arena. Gary Sharp and John Karhoff will have the radio call on 1180 Zone 2, and links to live stats, audio and video will be available on OMavs.com.