This Weekend
The Omaha men's basketball team hits the road for a matchup with Colorado this Friday, Nov. 16 at 8 p.m. CT at the CU Event Center in Boulder, Colo. The game will be televised live on Pac-12 Network and Pac-12 Mountain with Drew Goodman on play-by-play and Casey Jacobsen providing color commentary and may also be accessed online via Pac-12 Now and the Pac-12 Nework app. Gary Sharp will have the radio call on 1620 The Zone, and links to live stats, audio and video will be available on OMavs.com.
Quick Hits
•
Zach Jackson is Omaha's latest 1,000-point scorer, having become the 39th player in program history to reach the milestone Nov. 6 at Minnesota.
• Omaha leads the Summit League in field goals made per game (31.3) and steals per game (9.0). Individually, Jackson is first for steals with eight.
• Three Mavericks are averaging double-figure scoring to start the season: Jackson (20.3 ppg),
Mitch Hahn (11.7 ppg) and
Matt Pile (10.0 ppg).
• Jackson collected second-team All-Summit accolades as a junior. Since Omaha joined the Summit League in 2012-13, 10 Mavericks have combined for 12 All-Summit awards.
• Jackson and Hahn will both serve as team captains for the second straight year.
Scouting the Colorado Buffaloes
Colorado is 1-0 (0-0 Pac-12) after a season-opening 100-71 home win over Drake on Tuesday. The Buffaloes shot .589 (33-of-56) as a team and had four players score in double figures: Namon Wright (25), McKinley Wright (17), Shane Gatling (12) and Lucas Siewert (11).
CU, which finished 17-15 (8-10 Pac-12) a year ago, was picked seventh in the conference's preseason media poll. McKinley Wright was a Pac-12 All-Freshman Team honoree in 2017-18, as well as an honorable mention selection on the All-Pac 12 and All-Defensive teams.
Head coach Tad Boyle is in his seventh season at CU, carrying a record of 167-110 over nine years and a career mark of 223-176 over 13 years.
All-Time Against Colorado
Colorado holds a 1-0 advantage in the all-time series with Omaha. The two teams last met on Nov. 22, 2015, with the Buffaloes picking up an 87-82 win in Boulder.
Zach Jackson and
JT Gibson are the only two players on the current Maverick roster to have faced CU, and Jackson had six points, two rebounds and two rebounds in the matchup.
Tour de Pac-12
Friday's meeting at Colorado marks the Mavericks' first of three meetings with a Pac-12 team this season, as they also face Arizona State (Nov. 28) and Oregon (Dec. 8). All-time, Omaha is 0-3 against Pac-12 competition.
Last Time Out: Mavericks Fall 76-66 to Northern Arizona
Omaha dropped a 76-66 decision to Northern Arizona Wednesday night at Baxter Arena.
Zach Jackson tallied in double figures for the third straight game, finishing with 17 points, seven rebounds, four assists and a block.
Matt Pile grabbed his second career double-double on 10 points and a game-best 11 boards with three assists and a block while shooting 5-of-7 from the field.
JT Gibson (11) and
Mitch Hahn (10) also scored in double figures.
Omaha shot .409 (27-of-66) to NAU's .422 (27-of-64), and the Lumberjacks had a 42-33 edge on the glass.
Action Jackson
Senior guard
Zach Jackson ranked in the top five in the Summit League last season for scoring, field goal percentage, field goals made and free throws made, averaging 17.6 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. The Wichita, Kan, native opened the 2018-19 campaign with back-to-back 20-point scoring performances with 21 points at Minnesota and 23 vs. Buena Vista, and he has led the Mavericks in scoring in all three games to start the season.
Against 16 high major opponents in the last four seasons, Jackson has averaged 11.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 0.7 assists and 1.1 steals per game. Over the last three years, his high-major numbers have been 15.4 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 1.1 apg and 1.4 spg in 11 games.
The Evolution of Zach Jackson
Senior guard
Zach Jackson has been a four-year starter, averaging 10.8 points and 4.2 rebounds per game for his career. The Wichita, Kan., native scored in double figures in all but three games in 2017-18, including 12 performances with 20+ points and four double-doubles. From his freshman campaign to his junior year, Jackson evolved into an all-league player and last year became the sixth Maverick in the Division I era to score 500+ points in a single season.
Feelin' Hahn, Hahn, Hahn
Senior forward
Mitch Hahn has scored in double figures in three straight games to open the season, totaling 14 points at Minnesota (Nov. 6), 11 vs. Buena Vista (Nov. 9) and 10 vs. Northern Arizona (Nov. 14).
Hahn returned to the Maverick lineup last January after more than seven weeks out due to injury. From Jan. 25 to March 3, the Fremont, Neb., native averaged 11.4 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game, and his effort against Oral Roberts (Feb. 22) included a season-high 23 points with 9-of-14 shooting and five 3-pointers.
Milestones in the Making for Jackson
Senior guard
Zach Jackson entered his final season on the brink of with two major milestones. Nov. 9 at Minnesota, he became the 39th 1,000-point scorer in program history and now ranks 32nd all-time for scoring with 1,053 points.
Jackson also has 412 rebounds over his career, needing 88 to become the 12th player in school history with at least 1,000 points and 500 boards.
The Pile Driver
Wednesday night vs. Northern Arizona, sophomore
Matt Pile grabbed his second career double-double with 10 points and a season-high 11 rebounds.
Pile had an impactful freshman season in 2017-18, averaging 6.0 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game over an average of 17.1 minutes per contest. He joined the Maverick starting five for the final eight games of the season.
Pile ranked third in the Summit League for blocks (32) last year and is Omaha's active career leader in the category with 35. He more than doubled his blocking average from non-conference (0.7 bpg) to league play (1.5 bpg) last season, and 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.
Up Next
Omaha travels to Bethune-Cookman on Tuesday, Nov. 20. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. CT in Daytona Beach, Fla., and 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.
