Leading Off
The Omaha men's basketball team completes its five-game road swing this Saturday, Dec. 15 at Idaho. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. CT at the Cowan Spectrum in Moscow, Idaho. The game will be broadcast live on Pluto TV 242, 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.
Quick Hits
• Saturday marks Omaha's fifth of five straight road games.
• Three Mavericks are averaging 10 or more points per game to start the season:
Zach Jackson (19.4 ppg),
JT Gibson (13.8 ppg) and
KJ Robinson (10.0 ppg).
• Four Mavericks have made at least four triples in a single game this season: Gibson (five times), Jackson (twice) and Robinson and
Ayo Akinwole (once each).
• Omaha has had two players with 20 or more points on the same night twice this season: Gibson (21) and Jackson (20) at Bethune-Cookman (Nov. 20) and Jackson (33) and Akinwole (20) vs. Montana State (Nov. 24).
• The Mavericks were picked eighth in the 2018-19 Summit League's Preseason Poll, and Jackson was a first-team Preseason All-Summit selection.
• 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 Idaho Vandals
Idaho is 3-6 (0-0 Big Sky) after a 73-67 loss to CSU Bakersfield on Dec. 8. Trevon Allen led the way with 15 points, Geno West had 13 and Cameron Tyson added 12 more.
The Vandals, who finished 22-9 (14-4 Big Sky) a year ago, were voted sixth in the Big Sky's preseason media poll and ninth in the coaches' poll.
Head coach Don Verlin has a career record of 175-155 in 11 seasons at Idaho.
All-Time Against Idaho
Saturday marks the first meeting between Omaha and Idaho.
Battling the Big Sky
Saturday's meeting with Idaho marks the ninth meeting of Omaha's Division I era and the third this season against Big Sky competition. Omaha is 6-2 against members of the conference since 2011-12.
Last Time Out: Oregon Turns Back Mavericks, 84-61
Omaha took to the road again last Saturday night, falling 84-61 to Oregon at Matthew Knight Arena.
Zach Jackson tallied his fifth scoring effort of 20+ points this season, finishing with a game-high 21 points on 6-of-12 shooting with three 3-pointers and a perfect 6-of-6 showing at the line.
JT Gibson joined him in double figures, hitting 6-of-9 from the field -- including 5-of-8 from deep -- for 18 points with three rebounds, two assists and three steals.
KJ Robinson dished out a team-leading six assists for the night.
Oregon shot .589 (33-of-56) with 12 threes and had a 36-13 rebounding advantage. Omaha finished at a .420 (21-of-50) clip with 12 threes of its own and committed a season-low eight turnovers.
Action Jackson
Over the first 10 games this season,
Zach Jackson has a team-best 19.4 points with 3.1 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.2 steals per game. He ranks as the third-best scorer in the Summit League and is also third for points (194) and free throws made (44).
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.
JT's Junior Year
JT Gibson enters Saturday's game on a streak of eight straight games with double-figure scoring, averaging 15.4 points, 2.9 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.5 steals per contest in that span. At Colorado (Nov. 16), he had 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting with six boards, three assists and two steals, then followed with a career-high-tying 21 points with two rebounds, three assists and three steals at Bethune-Cookman (Nov. 20). Last Saturday at Oregon, Gibson posted 18 points on five 3-pointers and added three rebounds, two assists and three steals.
Gibson is Omaha's active career leader for threes made (121) and assists (126).
JT for Three
JT Gibson is the only Omaha player to hit a three in all 10 games this season. Last year, he knocked one down in a career-long 19 straight games from Nov. 20, 2017 to Jan. 25, 2018.
The Brooklyn Park, Minn., native broke into Omaha's top 15 for career triples Dec. 6 at Seattle, and he now ranks 14th (121).
The Evolution of Zach Jackson
Zach Jackson has been a four-year starter, averaging 11.4 points and 4.1 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
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 17th all-time for scoring with 1,186 points. Nov. 26 at Iowa State, he passed former Maverick and current assistant coach
Tyler Bullock (2009-11) to move into the top 20.
Jackson also has 429 rebounds over his career, needing 71 to become the 12th player in school history with at least 1,000 points and 500 boards.
Compared to the Opposition
Over its nine contests this season, Omaha has:
•More or equal field goals made compared to its opponent five times
•More or equal 3-point field goals made compared to its opponent six times
•More or equal free throws made compared to its opponent three times
•More or equal rebounds compared to its opponent three times
•More or equal assists compared to its opponent three times
•More or equal steals compared to its opponent seven times
•Fewer or equal turnovers compared to its opponent eight times
•More or equal blocks compared to its opponent four times
Up Next
Omaha returns home to host UC Santa Barbara on Wednesday, Dec. 19 at Baxter Arena at 7 p.m. Gary Sharp and John Karhoff will have the radio call on 1180 Zone 2, and links to live video, audio and stats will be available on OMavs.com.
