Leading Off
The Omaha men's basketball team hits the road for a matchup with Bethune-Cookman this Tuesday, Nov. 20 at 6 p.m. CT at Moore Gymnasium in Daytona Beach, Fla. 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
• Three Mavericks are averaging double-figure scoring to start the season:
Zach Jackson (19.5 ppg),
Mitch Hahn (11.0 ppg) and
JT Gibson (11.0 ppg).
• 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.
• 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.
• Omaha was picked eighth in the 2018-19 Summit League's Preseason Poll, and Jackson was a first-team Preseason All-Summit selection.
• Jackson and Hahn will both serve as team captains for the second straight year.
Scouting the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats
Bethune-Cookman is 2-3 (0-0 MEAC) after a 78-70 loss at Miami Saturday afternoon. Malik Maitland led all scorers with 29 points on 11-of-16 shooting and five 3-pointers, adding nine rebounds, three assists and three steals. Cletrell Pope also had 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting with 10 boards for a double-double.
BCU, which finished 18-14 (11-4 MEAC) a year ago, was picked first in the conference's preseason media poll. Shawntrez Davis and Soufiyane Diakite were both tabbed first-team Preseason All-MEAC, and Isaiah Bailey was a second-team selection. Head coach Ryan Ridder is in his second season at BCU and has a career record of 20-17.
All-Time Against Bethune-Cookman
Bethune-Cookman holds a 1-0 advantage in the all-time series with Omaha. The two teams last met on Nov. 23, 2012, with the Wildcats picking up a 93-81 win in a neutral-site game in Valparaiso, Ind., as part of the Joe Cipriano Classic.
Meeting the MEAC
Tuesday's meeting at Bethune-Cookman marks the fifth meeting of Omaha's Division I era against MEAC competition. All-time, Omaha is 2-2 against members of the conference.
Last Time Out: Mavericks Edged at Colorado, 79-75
Omaha held its own but came up just short at Colorado last Friday, falling 79-75 at the CU Event Center.
JT Gibson scored a game-leading and season-best 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting with four 3-pointers, adding a career-high-tying six rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Zach Jackson followed with 17 points, four boards, one assist, one steal and one block.
KJ Robinson also finished in double figures with 13 points on 4-of-8 shooting, two assists and three steals.
Omaha shot .475 (29-of-61) to Colorado's .473 (26-of-55) and hit a season-best nine 3-pointers for the night. CU finished 19-of-23 at the line and had the advantage on the boards, 36-27. The Buffs committed 16 turnovers, however, allowing the Mavericks to convert 19 points.
With 4:25 to play, Gibson buried a three for a 64-63 Maverick lead, but CU responded with a three-point play and two more free throws to regain the lead. Gibson hit another trey to make it 68-67, and a Robinson triple locked the game at 70-70 with 3:07 left.
After Colorado again stretched it to a five-point margin with 30 seconds to go, Jackson threw up a one-handed three from up top to pull the Mavericks within two. But McKinley Wright made two final free throws in the closing seconds to seal the game for the Buffs.
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. Over the first four games this season, he has team bests of 19.5 points, 2.5 assists and 2.3 steals per game, as well as 4.5 boards per game. He ranks as the third-best scorer in the Summit League and is second for total steals (nine).
The Wichita, Kan., native opened the 2018-19 campaign with back-to-back 20-point performances, and he led the Mavericks in scoring in three straight games to start the year.
Feelin' Hahn, Hahn, Hahn
Senior forward
Mitch Hahn 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 a shoulder 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.
The Evolution of Zach Jackson
Senior guard
Zach Jackson has been a four-year starter, averaging 10.9 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.
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 is now tied with Don Claussen (1950-54) for 28th all-time for scoring with 1,070 points.
Jackson also has 416 rebounds over his career, needing 84 to become the 12th player in school history with at least 1,000 points and 500 boards.
JT's Junior Year
Junior guard
JT Gibson, one of three Mavericks averaging double-figure scoring right now, came up with his strongest performance of the season last Friday at Colorado. The Brooklyn Park, Minn., native scored a game-high 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting with four 3-pointers and had a career-high-tying six rebounds, three assists and two steals.
In 2017-18, Gibson was fourth on the team for scoring with 10.2 points per game and had 16 double-figure scoring efforts. He finished the year as Omaha's triples leader with 57, and he owned 18 performances with two or more treys.
With 113 career assists to his credit, Gibson is Omaha's active career leader in the category.
The Pile Driver
Last Wednesday 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 36. 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.
Compared to the Opposition
Over its four contests this season, Omaha has:
•More or equal field goals made compared to its opponent three times
•More or equal 3-point field goals made compared to its opponent two times
•More or equal free throws made compared to its opponent one time
•More or equal rebounds compared to its opponent one time
•More or equal assists compared to its opponent one time
•More or equal steals compared to its opponent three times
•Fewer or equal turnovers compared to its opponent four times
•More or equal blocks compared to its opponent one time
Up Next
Omaha welcomes Montana State on Saturday, Nov. 24. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. at Baxter Arena, and Gary Sharp will have the radio call on 1180 Zone 2. Links to live video, audio and stats will be available on OMavs.com.
