OMAHA, Neb. -- The Omaha men's basketball team suffered its first home loss of the season Saturday night at the hands of preseason conference favorite South Dakota State, falling 101-88 in front of a season-best crowd of 3,447 fans at Baxter Arena.
 
Leaders for Omaha
Junior Zach Jackson scored a career-high 29 points to lead Omaha, shooting 13-of-23 from the field. The Wichita, Kan., native added a team-high six rebounds, two assists and a steal.
 
Sophomore JT Gibson joined him in double figures with 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting with four 3-pointers and a 2-of-2 effort at the free throw line. Senior Daniel Norl added 14 points with 9-of-10 free throw shooting, five rebounds, three assists and two steals.
 
Freshman Matt Pile also put up a game-high four blocks, the most of any Maverick this season.
 
Leaders for South Dakota State
Mike Daum recorded a double-double with 27 points, 11 rebounds and four assists. Four other Jackrabbits also tallied in double figures: David Jenkins (22), Reed Tellinghuisen (16), Tevin King (15) and Skyler Flatten (12).
 
Team Stats
South Dakota State shot .574 (35-of-61), .542 (13-of-24) from long range and .900 (18-of-20) at the free throw line. Omaha came in at .441 (30-of-68), .355 (11-of-31) behind the arc and .895 (17-of-19) at the stripe. SDSU outrebounded the Mavericks 35-25.
 
Inside the First Half
SDSU shot .559 (19-of-34) and held Omaha to .371 (13-of-35) in the opening half. Jackson led the way for the Mavericks with 15 points over 18 minutes on the floor, hitting 7-of-12. After Omaha pulled within one early on a Jackson layup, the Jacks surged to a 22-8 lead on the back of a 13-0 run. SDSU led 50-35 by the break.
 
Inside the Second Half
The Mavericks improved to .515 (17-of-33) shooting in the second stanza, while SDSU hit at a .593 (16-of-27) clip. Jackson came through with 14 points for Omaha, and Gibson and Norl added 10 apiece. But Daum turned it up on the other side, shooting 6-of-7 from the field for 17 points and seven boards, which helped SDSU work up to a 91-64 advantage with just under six minutes to play. Omaha managed to pull within 12 after a three-point play by Jackson with 1:29 to go.
 
Omaha is now 5-13 (0-2 Summit League) on the year, while SDSU improves to 14-5 (2-0).
 
Up Next
Omaha returns to action on Thursday, Jan. 11, visiting Western Illinois. 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.