Leading Off
The Omaha men's basketball team continues its three-game home stand this Sunday, Dec. 30, welcoming Oral Roberts to Baxter Arena at 4:30 p.m. Gary Sharp and John Karhoff 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
• Omaha's four-game win streak is its longest since a five-game streak Feb. 16 - March 6, 2017.
• The Mavericks kick off league play with a three-game home stand against Denver, Oral Roberts and North Dakota State. The last time Omaha had three straight conference games at home was Feb. 6-13, 2016.
• Omaha shot .540 as a team vs. Denver, its third straight and fifth overall shooting performance of .500 or better.
• The Mavericks scored 50 points in the second half against DU for their fourth 50-point half of the year.
• Five Mavericks are averaging nine or more points per game:
Zach Jackson (17.9 ppg),
JT Gibson (14.1 ppg),
KJ Robinson (10.0 ppg),
Matt Pile (9.9 ppg) and
Mitch Hahn (9.9 ppg).
• Jackson made his 100th career start Friday. He has 64 consecutive starts since Dec. 29, 2016.
• Over the last two games, Pile has shot .684 (13-of-19) from the floor, while Gibson comes in at .667 (14-of-21).
• Five Mavericks have made at least four triples in a single game this season: Gibson (six times), Jackson (twice) and Robinson, Hahn and
Ayo Akinwole (once each).
• Omaha has had five double-figure scorers five times this season, most recently vs. Denver (Dec. 28).
• The Mavericks, who rank 27th nationally for fewest turnovers per game, have had single-digit turnovers in six straight games: nine at Seattle (Dec. 6), eight at Oregon (Dec. 8), seven at Idaho (Dec. 15) and vs. UCSB (Dec. 19), eight at Rice (Dec. 21) and nine vs. Denver (Dec. 28).
• 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 are both team captains for the second straight year.
Scouting the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles
Oral Roberts is 4-11 (0-0 Summit League) after a 69-59 loss to Tulsa last Saturday. DeShang Weaver scored a game-high 16 points, while Sam Kearns added 12 more. Kevin Obanor finished with nine points and nine rebounds, and Emmanuel Nzekwesi had nine points and eight boards.
ORU, which finished 11-21 (5-9 Summit League) a year ago, was voted sixth in the conference's preseason poll. Nzekwesi was a second-team Preseason All-Summit selection after earning all-league honorable mention last year.
Head coach Paul Mills holds a career record of 15-32 in two seasons at Oral Roberts.
All-Time Against Oral Roberts
Sunday marks the 11th meeting between Omaha and Oral Roberts, with the Golden Eagles leading the all-time series, 7-3. ORU swept last year's series with a 93-74 win on Dec. 30, 2017 in Tulsa, Okla., followed by an 83-75 win at Baxter Arena on Feb. 22. The series is tied at 2-2 when the Mavericks and ORU play in Omaha.
Mitch Hahn averaged 23.0 points and 4.0 rebounds against ORU last season, while
Zach Jackson had 20.5 points and 8.5 boards per game.
Last Time Out: Gibson's Career Night Leads Omaha to 91-84 Win Over Denver
Omaha opened Summit League play with a bang Friday night, defeating Denver 91-84 at Baxter Arena.
JT Gibson had a career scoring performance to lead a contingent of five Mavericks in double figures. The Brooklyn Park, Minn., native finished with a career-high 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting, including 5-of-8 from distance, along with three rebounds, three assists and a steal.
Matt Pile hit 8-of-12 from the field for a season-high 17 points with six boards and a block.
Mitch Hahn had another 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting with six rebounds and an assist.
Zach Jackson, who made his 100th career start, added 11 points, four rebounds and four assists, and
Ayo Akinwole rounded it out with 10 points, three assists and a steal.
Omaha, which shot over .500 for the third straight game, finished at .540 (34-of-63) as a team, .478 (11-of-23) from long range and .750 (12-of-16) at the stripe. Denver came in at .486 (35-of-72) from the floor and had a 40-29 rebounding advantage.
Action Jackson
Over the first 14 games this season,
Zach Jackson has a team-best 17.9 points with 3.4 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.1 steals per game. He ranks 41st nationally for total points (250), is the fourth-best scorer in the Summit League and also ranks third among league players for free throws made (51).
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. Jackson's 10 straight games in double figures from Nov. 6 to Dec. 8 is the longest of any Omaha player this season.
Threes, Please
Omaha ranks 26th nationally as a team with 127 3-pointers made and 43rd nationally with a .384 shooting percentage from distance.
JT Gibson has been a major factor from long range, as the junior is 44th in the country for threes made (38) and 59th for 3-point percentage (.432).
Omaha hit 11 threes in Friday night's win over Denver, marking the Mavericks' sixth game with double-digit triples.
JT's Junior Year
JT Gibson has scored in double figures in all but two games this season, including a nine-game streak, Nov. 14 - Dec. 15. He has scored 15 or more points in a night on six occasions this season, highlighted by a career-high 22 points with three rebounds, three assists and a steal Friday vs. Denver. Gibson has six games with four or more 3-pointers, led by a five-triple efforts at Oregon (Dec. 8) and vs. Denver (Dec. 28).
Gibson, who has scored in 46 straight games, is Omaha's active career leader for threes made (130) and assists (135).
JT for Three
JT Gibson is the only Omaha player to hit a three in all 14 games this season. Last year, he knocked one down in a career-long 19 straight games from Nov. 20, 2017 to Jan. 25, 2018.
With a team-high 38 treys, he ranks third among Summit League players and 44th nationally. The Brooklyn Park, Minn., native broke into Omaha's top 15 for career triples Dec. 6 at Seattle and now ranks 13th (130).
Experienced Mavericks
Omaha's six returners are averaging 65.9 points per game, shooting .486 (337-of-692) from the field and .397 (112-of-282) from long range.
Zach Jackson and
JT Gibson are both hitting over 40 percent from three -- Jackson coming in at .450 (27-of-60) and Gibson at .432 (38-of-88).
The Mavericks' returning corps owns 85 percent (923-of-1,082) of Omaha's scoring, 69 percent (288-of-415) of its rebounding, 87 percent of its assists (162-of-186) and 90 percent of its steals (72-of-80).
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 15th all-time for scoring with 1,242 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 445 rebounds over his career, needing 55 to become the 12th player in school history with at least 1,000 points and 500 boards.
Feelin' Hahn, Hahn, Hahn
Mitch Hahn has been a major factor in Omaha's three-game surge, as the senior has averaged 16.5 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game with .553 shooting. The figures are up from his previous 10 games, during which Hahn had 7.2 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game and shot .308 from the floor and .229 from three.
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). He put up his first double-double of the year at Rice (Dec. 21) on 18 points and 11 boards.
The Fremont, Neb., native also owns three games with a trio of 3-pointers, hitting three apiece against Minnesota (Nov. 6) and Northern Arizona (Nov. 14) and a season-best four at Idaho (Dec. 15), where he scored a season-high 21 points.
The Pile Driver
Matt Pile is shooting at a Summit League-leading .637 clip to start his sophomore campaign. The Goddard, Kan., native has scored in double digits nine times this year, including a season-high 17 points with six boards and a block vs. Denver (Dec. 28).
Pile grabbed his fifth career double-double -- and his fourth of the season -- with 13 points and a career-high-tying 11 rebounds vs. UC Santa Barbara (Dec. 19). Pile has three double-doubles in the last six games, during which time he has averaged 11.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.8 assists per contest. He set a career high for assists in back-to-back games with four at Idaho (Dec. 15) and five vs. UC Santa Barbara (Dec. 19).
Pile's impactful freshman season saw him average 6.0 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game in 2017-18. He ranked third in the Summit League for blocks (32) last year and is Omaha's active career leader in the category with 43.
Compared to the Opposition
Over its 14 contests this season, Omaha has:
•More or equal field goals made compared to its opponent eight times
•More or equal 3-point field goals made compared to its opponent nine times
•More or equal free throws made compared to its opponent four times
•More or equal rebounds compared to its opponent four times
•More or equal assists compared to its opponent seven times
•More or equal steals compared to its opponent 10 times
•Fewer or equal turnovers compared to its opponent 11 times
•More or equal blocks compared to its opponent seven times
Home Sweet Homaha
Omaha played 12 games at home in 2017-18, and eight of its nine wins came at Baxter Arena. It won five straight in their own facility to start before South Dakota State snapped the streak on Jan. 6.
This season, the Mavericks are 4-1 at home. They average 85.0 points per game and have an average margin of victory of 19.5 points at Baxter.
Up Next
Omaha hosts North Dakota State on Wednesday, Jan. 2, with tipoff set for 7 p.m. at Baxter Arena. The game will be broadcast live on Midco and YurView Cox Channel 1013, and Gary Sharp and John Karhoff will have the radio call on 1180 Zone 2. Links to live video, audio and stats will be available on OMavs.com.
