OMAHA, Neb. -- The Omaha men's basketball team opened Summit League play Sunday afternoon, gutting out an 81-78 win over South Dakota State. The victory came in front of a Baxter Arena men's basketball-record crowd of 4,234 fans and was the Mavericks' 13th straight home win dating back to last season.
 
Omaha is now 8-8 (1-0 Summit League) on the season, while the Jackrabbits drop to 9-7 (0-1).
 
Leaders for Omaha
JT Gibson poured in a team-leading 21 points with three 3-pointers while adding four assists and three steals. Matt Pile followed with 18 points on 9-of-13 shooting with a game-high nine rebounds, an assist, a steal and a season-high-tying four blocks.
 
KJ Robinson added 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting with another trio of threes, and Ayo Akinwole had 10 points with two rebounds, four assists and a steal.
 
Wanjang Tut also collected eight rebounds and added six points.
 
Leaders for South Dakota State
Noah Freidel hit six 3-pointers on the way to a game-high 28 points, finishing 10-of-19 from the field. Alex Arians (16) and Douglas Wilson (13) also scored in double figures, and Arians had a team-best seven boards.
 
Team Stats
Omaha shot 51.6% (33-of-64) to South Dakota State's 50.8% (30-of-59) and outrebounded the Jacks 33-31. A week after committing a season-high 20 turnovers against Montana, the Mavericks limited themselves to eight to match their season low.
 
Omaha had a 12-0 advantage in fast-break scoring.
 
Inside the First Half
A pair of threes from Akinwole helped spot Omaha an early 10-7 lead less than five minutes in, but SDSU used a 15-6 scoring spurt to go up 22-16. The Jacks turned in a 63.0% (17-of-27) shooting effort for the half and led 42-36 at the break.
 
Gibson led Omaha with nine points in the opening frame, while Pile had eight points and seven boards.
 
Inside the Second Half
Omaha responded in the second half, shooting an improved 56.3% (18-of-32) while committing just two turnovers in the final 20 minutes. Gibson drilled back-to-back triples to pull Omaha within one at 47-46, and an Akinwole jumper leveled it at 48-48 with 15:26 to go. Gibson hit another jumper just over a minute later to put Omaha up 50-48, capping a 10-1 run.
 
A Pile bucket with 5:48 remaining put the Mavericks ahead 70-67, and SDSU used a 7-1 surge to regain a 74-71 lead with just under four minutes to go. But Omaha went ahead for good on a Pile layup with 1:48 left and stretched it to a three-point lead again on a Robinson lay-in at 79-76.
 
SDSU pulled within one at 79-78, but a block from Pile proved key with six seconds to go. Marlon Ruffin grabbed the rebound and drew the foul from Matt Dentlinger, then hit a pair at the line to seal the win. Freidel threw up a final attempt from distance at the buzzer, but his shot fell short.
 
Noting Tonight's Game
-Omaha is a flawless 7-0 at home in 2019-20.
-The game included seven ties and 17 lead changes.
-Omaha is now 4-4 in Summit League openers since joining the conference in 2012-13.
-The Mavericks have won two straight against the Jackrabbits at Baxter Arena.
-Omaha has shot 50.0% as a team four times this year and has 17 straight wins when shooting 50.0% or better.
 
Up Next
Omaha welcomes Oral Roberts on Saturday, Jan. 4, with tipoff set for 7 p.m. at Baxter Arena. Gary Sharp and Kyler Erickson will have the radio call on 1180 Zone 2, and links to live video, audio and stats will be available on OMavs.com.