This Weekend
The Omaha men's basketball team resumes Summit League play this Saturday, Jan. 6, welcoming preseason league favorite South Dakota State. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at Baxter Arena, and Gary Sharp and John Karhoff will have the radio call on 1620 The Zone. Links to live stats, audio and video will be available on OMavs.com.
Quick Hits
• The Mavericks are undefeated at home this season, toting a perfect 5-0 record in games at Baxter Arena.
• Five Mavericks are averaging double-figure scoring:
Zach Jackson (17.3 ppg),
Daniel Norl (12.6 ppg),
Mitch Hahn (12.2 ppg),
JT Gibson (10.9 ppg) and
KJ Robinson (10.3 ppg).
•
Renard Suggs has tallied in double figures in back-to-back games, hitting four threes at Oral Roberts (Dec. 30) and three more vs. Doane (Jan. 2).
• Over the last two games, Norl has averaged 20.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.0 steals per contest while shooting .652 shooting. He has collected nine assists with just one turnover.
• Since taking a starting role Dec. 21,
Ayo Akinwole has dished out 10 assists with only three turnovers.
• Over the last 11 games, Jackson has averaged 18.5 points and 7.5 rebounds while shooting .569 from the field, .500 from 3-point range and .836 from the free throw line.
• Jackson led the Mavericks in scoring in six straight games from Nov. 25 to Dec. 13 and has tallied in double figures in 11 consecutive contests.
• 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 seven 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 13-5 (1-0 Summit League) after an 87-80 win at North Dakota State Wednesday night. Mike Daum posted 37 points with 15 rebounds, hitting a perfect 16-of-16 at the free throw line to lead the Jackrabbits. Reed Tellinghuisen added 22 points, and Tevin King had 10 more.
Head coach T.J. Otzelberger is in his second season at SDSU, carrying a career record of 31-22.
Saturday's game marks the 88th meeting all-time between Omaha and SDSU, with the Jacks leading the series, 55-32. The two teams last met on March 7, 2017 at the Summit League Championship in Sioux Falls, S.D., on Feb. 5, 2012, when SDSU prevailed 79-77 to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Last Time Out: Pile's Double-Double Leads Omaha Past Doane, 100-60
Omaha men's basketball improved to a perfect 5-0 at home Tuesday night, defeating Doane 100-60 at Baxter Arena. Freshman
Matt Pile led six scorers in double figures with his first career double-double, finishing with career highs of 18 points and 10 rebounds on 9-of-11 shooting with a block and a steal.
Senior
Daniel Norl followed with 17 points, four rebounds, two assists and a steal, while junior
Zach Jackson had 16 points, six boards and a steal. Senior
Renard Suggs chipped in another 13 points, and freshman
Ayo Akinwole was a perfect 5-of-5 from the field en route to career highs of 12 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Sophomore
JT Gibson rounded it out with 11 points alongside six assists.
Omaha shot .597 (40-of-67) to Doane's .348 (23-of-66) and finished at .476 (10-of-21) from 3-point range. The Mavericks outrebounded the Tigers 47-26 and outscored them 50-18 in the paint.
Action Jackson
Junior
Zach Jackson is in his third year as a starter, averaging a team bests of 17.3 points and 6.8 rebounds per game with a .529 shooting percentage. The Wichita, Kan., native has scored in double figures in all but one game, including five 20-point scoring performances: 24 at Oklahoma (Nov. 12), 22 vs. Jackson State (Nov. 25), a career-high 28 at Washington (Dec. 3), 22 vs. Arkansas State (Dec. 13) and 25 vs. Montana State (Dec. 21).
Jackson ranks in the top 10 in the Summit League in multiple categories: third for free throws made (70), fourth for points (294), fifth for field goals made (100) and total rebounds (116), sixth for 3-point percentage (.436), offensive rebounds (34) and defensive rebounds (82), seventh for free throw percentage (.795), rebounds per game (6.8) and steals (18) and eighth for field goal percentage (.436).
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 10.9 points per game. The Brooklyn Park, Minn., native has eight double-figure scoring efforts this season. He has hit at least one 3-pointer in 12 straight games since Nov. 20 and owns 10 performances with two or more treys this season.
Gibson ranks seventh in the Summit League for steals (18) and 10th for assists (50). With a career-high six assists vs. Doane (Jan. 2), he became Omaha's active career leader in the category.
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. He is eighth in the league for assists (52).
Norl Off to a Strong Start
Senior
Daniel Norl has had a strong start to his senior season, ranking second on the team for scoring with 12.6 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).
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 seven double-figure scoring games to his credit, including his most recent with a career-high 15 points vs. Montana State. He has the team lead and ranks fourth in the Summit League for offensive rebounds (39).
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 15.7 minutes per game over the last 13. In that stretch, Pile has boosted his averages to 7.8 points and 4.6 rebounds per game.
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.
Home Sweet Homaha
Omaha had a record of 8-4 at home last season, and the Mavericks averaged 90.9 points per game with a 12.6 margin of victory at Baxter Arena.
The Mavericks play 12 games at home in 2017-18 and have five straight wins in their own facility this season.
Hitting the Century Mark
Omaha hit the century mark for the first time this season in its 100-60 win over Doane on Jan. 2. Over the 13-year
Derrin Hansen era, the Mavericks are 22-3 when scoring 100 points or more in a game.
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 the Jayhawks reaching the Elite Eight.
Up Next
Omaha embarks on its first Summit League road swing, visiting Western Illinois on Thursday, Jan. 11. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. in Macomb, Ill., 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.
