Leading Off
The Omaha men's basketball team continues its swing through the Pacific Northwest this Saturday, Dec. 8, visiting Oregon. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. CT at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, Ore.
The game will be televised on Pac-12 Network and Pac-12 Oregon with Rich Burk and Eldridge Recasner on the call and may also be accessed online via Pac-12 Now and the Pac-12 Network app. Gary Sharp will have the radio call on 1290 KOIL, and links to live stats, audio and video will be available on OMavs.com.
Quick Hits
• Saturday marks Omaha's fourth of five straight road games.
• Four Mavericks are averaging nine or more points per game to start the season:
Zach Jackson (19.2 ppg),
JT Gibson (13.3 ppg),
KJ Robinson (11.0 ppg) and
Matt Pile (9.2 ppg).
• Omaha counted five double-figure scorers for the second time Thursday at Seattle.
• Four Mavericks have made at least four triples in a single game this season: Gibson (four times), Jackson (twice) and Akinwole and Robinson (once each).
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Matt Pile's game-opening dunk Thursday was Omaha's first since Dec. 18, 2016.
• 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 Oregon Ducks
Oregon is 4-3 (0-0 Pac-12) after a 65-61 loss at Houston on Dec. 1. The Ducks were unable to overcome a 19-point halftime deficit, despite outscoring Houston 43-28 in the second half. Bol Bol had 23 points, seven rebounds and three blocks, and Will Richardson added 16 points and another seven boards.
The Ducks, who finished 23-13 (10-8 Pac-12) a year ago, were voted the Pac-12's preseason favorite for 2018-19.
Head coach Dana Altman is 214-86 in nine seasons at Oregon and owns a career mark of 624-329 over 30 years.
All-Time Against Oregon
Saturday marks the first meeting between Omaha and Oregon.
The Omaha-Oregon Connection
Although Omaha and Oregon have never faced each other, ties run deep between the Maverick and Duck coaching staffs. Oregon assistant coach Kevin McKenna served as head coach at UNO from 2001-05, compiling a record of 89-33 before passing the torch to then-assistant coach
Derrin Hansen. Oregon assistant coach Tony Stubblefield also played at UNO from 1991-93, earning his degree in 1995. Additionally, Oregon head coach Dana Altman spent 16 seasons as head coach at Creighton, a mere four miles from the UNO campus.
Derrin vs. Dana
Omaha head coach
Derrin Hansen and Oregon head coach Dana Altman's teams have previously squared off twice, both times in exhibition at Qwest Center Omaha during Altman's tenure at Creighton. The first meeting came Nov. 8, 2006, when CU defeated UNO 73-56, and the second was Nov. 8, 2009, when the Jays won 93-77. In the latter, current Omaha assistant coach
Tyler Bullock was just beginning his junior season and had 12 points.
Tour de Pac-12
Saturday's game at Oregon marks the Mavericks' third of three meetings with a Pac-12 team this season, as they previously faced Colorado (Nov. 16) and Arizona State (Nov. 28). All-time, Omaha is 0-5 against Pac-12 competition.
Last Time Out: Mavericks Fall 90-71 at Seattle
Five Mavericks scored in double figures, but Omaha team dropped a 90-71 road decision to Seattle Thursday night at the Redhawk Center. Playing in his first game since Nov. 20,
KJ Robinson returned to the lineup and scored a season-high 17 points on five 3-pointers alongside two assists and two steals.
Matt Pile recorded his second double-double of the year with 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting, 11 rebounds and a steal.
JT Gibson followed with 13 points, two boards, three assists and a steal, and
Zach Jackson added another 12 points with two rebounds and an assist while hitting 5-of-5 at the line.
Brett Barney had a solid night off the bench, making 4-of-4 shots from the field for a season-high 10 points.
Omaha shot .390 (23-of-59) to Seattle's .544 (31-of-57). SU also had the advantage on the glass, 36-23, and had nine blocked shots as a team. The Mavericks committed a season-low nine turnovers for the night.
Action Jackson
Over the first nine games this season,
Zach Jackson has a team-best 19.2 points with 3.1 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.3 steals per game. He ranks as the third-best scorer in the Summit League and is also third for free throws made (38) and fifth for points (173).
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 seven straight games with double-figure scoring, averaging 15.0 points, 2.9 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.3 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).
Gibson is Omaha's active career leader for threes made (116) and assists (124).
JT for Three
JT Gibson is the only Omaha player to hit a three in all nine 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 Thursday night at Seattle. Prior to that, he had five straight games with at least three treys from Nov. 16-28.
Stepping Into the Spotlight
Against 19 high major opponents in the last four seasons,
Zach Jackson has averaged 12.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 1.2 steals per game. Over the last three years, his numbers have been 15.4 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 1.1 apg and 1.2 spg in 14 games. Below is a look at Jackson's top scoring performances in high major games.
The Evolution of Zach Jackson
Zach Jackson has been a four-year starter, averaging 11.3 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 1,165 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 426 rebounds over his career, needing 74 to become the 12th player in school history with at least 1,000 points and 500 boards.
The Pile Driver
Thursday at Seattle, sophomore
Matt Pile grabbed his third career double-double with 10 points and a career-high-tying 11 rebounds. The Goddard, Kan., native has scored in double digits five times this year, including a season-high 15 points with five boards, an assist, a steal and two blocks at Arizona State (Nov. 28).
Pile had an impactful freshman season in 2017-18, averaging 6.0 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game and joined the Maverick starting five for the final eight games. Pile ranked third in the Summit League for blocks (32) last year and is Omaha's active career leader in the category with 40.
Here's to You, Mr. Robinson
KJ Robinson returned to the Mavericks' starting five Thursday at Seattle, playing his first game since Nov. 20. He hit five 3-pointers en route to a season-high 17 points, which was his fourth double-figure scoring effort of the year.
A native of Blue Springs, Mo., Robinson had a career performance vs. Tennessee Tech last season, going off for a career-high 25 points while hitting seven 3-pointers and adding five rebounds, five assists and a block. It was the most threes in a game by any Maverick since
Marcus Tyus had eight at South Dakota State (Jan, 7, 2017).
Ayo!
Ayo Akinwole made his first start of the season Nov. 24 vs. Montana State, and the Papillion-LaVista product came to play. Akinwole had a perfect shooting day, finishing 8-of-8 from the field, including 4-of-4 from deep, en route to a career-high 20 points. He also had four rebounds, a season-high six assists and a career-high-tying three steals.
Akinwole's 2.4 assist-to-turnover ratio ranked third among Summit League players last season, and in 2018-19, he is fourth on the list at 2.3. He appeared in all 31 games as a freshman, including four starts, and averaged 3.4 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists over 15.5 minutes per game.
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 five times
•More or equal free throws made compared to its opponent two 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 six times
•Fewer or equal turnovers compared to its opponent seven times
•More or equal blocks compared to its opponent three times
Noting the Schedule
Over the regular season in 2018-19, Omaha will play in 14 states with competition from eight other Division I conferences. The schedule has three opponents from the Pac-12 and the Big Sky and one each from the Big 12, Big Ten, Big West, Conference USA, MEAC and WAC. Arizona State and defending Summit League champion South Dakota State both reached the 2018 NCAA Tournament.
Omaha plays 17 of its 29 games on the road this season, including a challenging five-game road stretch from Nov. 26 to Dec. 15 with visits to Iowa State, Arizona State, Seattle, Oregon and Idaho. By Dec. 6, Omaha had played in all four time zones in the contiguous United States.
Challenging Foes
During the 2017-18 non-conference slate, Omaha faced three teams (Oklahoma, Kansas and Louisville) with NCAA Final Four appearances on their resumes in the last decade. This season, one opponent has a recent Final Four to its credit: Oregon in 2017.
Eight Maverick opponents have earned at least one NCAA Tournament berth over the last five years: Oregon (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017), Iowa State (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017), South Dakota State (2016, 2017, 2018), North Dakota State (2014, 2015), Arizona State (2014, 2018), Colorado (2014, 2016), Minnesota (2017) and North Dakota (2017).
Following in the Family Footsteps
This year's Maverick squad boasts a variety of family ties to college athletics:
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Zach Jackson's parents were both track & field athletes. His mother, Rita Graves Jackson, was the 1986 NCAA outdoor high jump champion and a seven-time All-American at K-State and was recently inducted into the school's hall of fame. His father, Jeff, ran three years at Wichita State.
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Mitch Hahn's father, Dave, played basketball at Kearney State College, now known as the University of Nebraska Kearney. His older brother, Michael, played baseball at UNK, and his young brother, Matt, plays basketball at Morningside College.
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JT Gibson's father, Daryl, played basketball at Fort Valley State. His older brother, Teddy, played at Waldorf College.
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Elishja Duplechan has a twin brother, Isaiah, who plays basketball at Solano Community College.
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Zach Thornhill's father, Mike, played basketball at Quincy.
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Kyle Luedtke's father, Josh, played football at UNO.
Up Next
Omaha concludes its road swing at Idaho on Saturday, Dec. 15. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. CT at the Cowan Spectrum in Moscow, Idaho, and the game will be broadcast on PlutoTV 242. Gary Sharp will have the radio call on 1180 Zone 2, and links to live video, audio and stats will be available on OMavs.com.
