Leading Off
The No. 2-seeded Omaha men's basketball team takes on No. 7 seed North Dakota this Saturday, March 9 in the quarterfinal round of the Summit League Championship. Tipoff is set for 8:30 p.m. at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center in Sioux Falls, S.D.
The game will be broadcast live on Midco and ESPN+, and YurView Cox Channel 1013 will begin airing the contest at the conclusion of the 7:07 p.m. Omaha at North Dakota hockey game. 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
• Omaha finished the regular season at 19-10 (13-3), setting Division I program records for total wins in a season and league wins in a season.
•
Zach Jackson and
Mitch Hahn were both honored with first-team All-Summit accolades Thursday. Since Omaha joined the Summit League in 2012-13, 11 Mavericks have combined for 14 All-Summit awards.
• Head coach
Derrin Hansen was named the 2019 Summit League Coach of the Year for the first time in his career.
• Omaha was 10-2 at home, 8-8 on the road and 1-0 on a neutral court this year.
• Omaha has lost just three times since Dec. 8, winning 16 of its last 19 games and seven of its last eight.
• Jackson is just the second player in program history to reach 1,500 points and 500 rebounds, joining Dennis Forrest (1,660 points and 500 rebounds from 1973-77).
• The Mavericks have outrebounded 11 of their last 14 opponents.
• Omaha is the only team in the league to have all five starters averaging double figures: Jackson (18.3 ppg),
JT Gibson (13.6 ppg),
Mitch Hahn (13.4 ppg),
KJ Robinson (11.6 ppg) and
Matt Pile (11.2 ppg).
• The Mavericks rank third nationally for fewest total turnovers and fifth for fewest turnovers per game. They have had single-digit turnovers in eight straight games since Feb. 3.
• Omaha hit two century marks Feb. 14: its 100th win since gaining membership in the Summit League in 2012-13 and
Derrin Hansen's 100th career conference win since taking the reins of the Maverick program in 2005-06.
• Jackson and Hahn are both team captains for the second straight year.
Scouting the North Dakota Fighting Hawks
No. 7 seed North Dakota is 12-17 (6-10 Summit League) on the season after falling 78-63 in its regular-season finale at South Dakota last Saturday. Cortez Seales led all scorers with 19 points, followed by Marlon Stewart's 17 points and Conner Avants' 12 points with nine rebounds. Seales was named All-Summit Honorable Mention on Thursday.
UND, which finished 12-20 (6-11 Big Sky) a year ago, was voted seventh in the Summit League's preseason poll. Head coach Brian Jones holds a career record of 190-216 in 14 seasons at North Dakota.
All-Time Against North Dakota
Saturday marks the 83rd meeting between Omaha and North Dakota. The Fighting Hawks lead the all-time series, 45-37, but Omaha has won nine straight meetings dating back to 2007.
Omaha has a 5-0 advantage in its Division I era, starting with an 83-75 win on Feb. 23, 2013 at Ralston Arena for the ESPN Bracket Busters event. The Mavericks picked up a 91-75 win at Ralston on March 19, 2014 in the first round of the CIT, then an 80-78 triumph in Grand Forks on March 3, 2015.
Their first meeting with UND as members of the Summit League was Jan. 10 in Grand Forks, where
Mitch Hahn's clutch three with eight seconds left handed Omaha a 92-91 victory. On Feb. 3, UND made a return trip to Baxter Arena, where the Mavericks won 90-72.
2019 Summit League Men's Basketball Championship Field Set
The field is set for the 2019 Summit League Men's Basketball Championship, with eight teams competing March 9-12 at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center in Sioux Falls, S.D. The tournament champion advances to the NCAA Tournament as the league's automatic bid. Tickets for the event may be purchased at all Ticketmaster locations, online at Ticketmaster.com or in person at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center Box Office.
2019 SUMMIT LEAGUE MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
Saturday, March 9 • Quarterfinals
Game 1 (6 p.m.) - No. 1 South Dakota State vs. No. 8 Western Illinois
Game 2 (8:30 p.m.) - No. 2 Omaha vs. No. 7 North Dakota
Sunday, March 10 • Quarterfinals
Game 3 (6 p.m.) - No. 4 North Dakota State vs. No. 5 Oral Roberts
Game 4 (8:30 p.m.) - No. 3 Purdue Fort Wayne vs. No. 6 South Dakota
Monday, March 5 • Semifinals
Game 5 (6 p.m.) - Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 3
Game 6 (8:30 p.m.) - Winner of Game 2 vs. Winner Game 4
Tuesday, March 6 • Championship
Game 7 (8 p.m.) - Winner of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 6
Tourney Time
Saturday marks Omaha's fourth appearance in as many years eligible for the Summit League Tournament, and the Mavericks are 2-3 all-time at the event.
Omaha made its tournament debut as the No. 3 seed in 2016, when they were bounced 78-70 in the quarterfinals by No. 6 seed Denver. In 2017, Omaha again entered the tournament seeded third and defeated Fort Wayne in the quarterfinals, 84-80, and IUPUI in the semifinals, 90-62. They came within a shot of the NCAA Tournament, falling 79-77 to South Dakota State in the championship game.
In 2018, the Mavericks were the No. 7 seed and fell 87-73 to South Dakota in the quarterfinal round.
Last Time Out: Mavericks Top Denver 86-76 to Cap Regular Season
Omaha capped the regular season last Saturday, defeating Denver 86-76 at Magness Arena.
JT Gibson tied his career high with 22 points on 8-of-15 shooting, hitting 5-of-10 from deep. He added four rebounds, a game-high five assists and a steal.
Matt Pile followed with 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting, five boards, an assist and a steal.
Mitch Hahn was 7-of-12 from the field for 18 points with a team-high seven rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block.
Zach Jackson rounded out Omaha's double-figure scorers with 14 points alongside six rebounds and three assists.
KJ Robinson added seven points and matched Gibson with five more assists.
Omaha shot .500 (33-of-66) to Denver's .433 (26-of-60) and hit nine 3-pointers. The Mavericks held a slight edge on the boards, 36-35, and committed seven turnovers while forcing 11 Pioneer miscues.
Looking at the League Finish
Omaha was picked eighth in the 2018-19 Summit League's Preseason Poll before finishing second in the standings -- its highest finish since joining the league in 2012-13. This year's eighth-place projection was its lowest since that first year of membership, when the Mavericks were picked ninth.
Omaha has secured a top-three league finish in three of the last four seasons, joined by third-place showings in 2015-16 and 2016-17.
Summit League Strong
Omaha's second-place regular-season finish in the league standings came by way of a Division I program-record 13 wins. The Mavericks swept season series against six league foes: Denver, North Dakota State, North Dakota, Purdue Fort Wayne, South Dakota and Western Illinois. They split the series with South Dakota State and surrendered one series for the year to Oral Roberts.
Scoring Notables
• Omaha has shot .500 or better in seven of its last 12 games and gone 10-2.
•
Zach Jackson is the first player since current Maverick assistant coach
Tyler Bullock (2009-11) and the only player in the Division I era to have back-to-back 500-point seasons. Jackson scored 547 points as a junior and has 530 as a senior.
• Jackson has seven 20-point scoring performances in the last 12 games: 22 at Western Illinois (Jan. 17), 21 vs. South Dakota (Jan. 20), 25 at Purdue Fort Wayne (Jan. 24), 22 vs. North Dakota (Feb. 3), 27 at South Dakota (Feb. 7), 27 vs. Purdue Fort Wayne (Feb. 16) and 21 vs. Western Illinois (Feb. 20).
• Over the last five games,
JT Gibson (13),
Mitch Hahn (11), Jackson (10) and
KJ Robinson (six) have combined for 40 of Omaha's 41 threes.
• Hahn has shot .500 (11-of-22) from deep in the last five games.
• Five Mavericks have made at least four triples in a single game this season: Gibson (nine times), Hahn (five times), Jackson (four times), Robinson (twice) and
Ayo Akinwole (once).
• Omaha has had at least five double-figure scorers nine times, most recently vs. Western Illinois (Feb. 20). All five starters have scored in double figures simultaneously on five occasions this year.
• The Mavericks counted six double-figure scorers on the same night once this season -- at South Dakota (Feb. 7). Six Mavericks have finished in double figures seven times in the Division I era and 12 times in the
Derrin Hansen era.
• The Mavericks have shot .500 or better as a team 13 times, including 11 of the last 17 games. They are undefeated when shooting at least .500.
Handle With Care
Omaha ranks third nationally for fewest total turnovers and fifth for fewest turnovers per game. They have had single-digit turnovers in 17 of the last 21 games, including eight straight since Feb. 3. According to KenPom.com, Omaha boasts the nation's lowest turnover percentage (13.1).
KJ Robinson has limited himself to 26 turnovers in 26 games this season, and in league play,
JT Gibson and
Ayo Akinwole had 11 apiece in 16 contests.
More recently, Akinwole has committed just three turnovers in the last 189 minutes on the floor, while Gibson has four in the last 276 minutes.
Threes, Please
Omaha ranks 12th nationally with a .393 shooting percentage from distance and 69th as a team with 260 3-pointers made. The Mavericks have 12 games with double-digit triples this season.
League Leaders
Omaha ranks in the top third of the Summit League for scoring (third at 79.9), field goal percentage (third at .480), field goals made per game (first at 30.1), 3-point percentage (second at .393) and fewest turnovers per game (first at 9.4).
Action Jackson
Two-time All-Summit guard
Zach Jackson has a team-best 18.3 points with 4.2 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 0.8 steals per game in his senior campaign. He ranks 91st nationally for scoring and total points (530), is the fourth-best scorer in the Summit League and also ranks fourth among league players for free throws made (102) and field goals made (181). Jackson's 1,522 points are 84th among the NCAA's Division I active career scoring leaders.
Jackson had 10 straight games in double figures from Nov. 6 to Dec. 8, and he had another nine-game streak from Dec. 19 to Jan. 24. He carries a streak of eight straight double-digit performances into the Summit League Championship.
JT's Junior Year
JT Gibson has scored in double figures in all but five games this season and had an 11-game streak from Dec. 21 to Feb. 7. He has scored 15 or more points in a night on 10 occasions, highlighted by a career-high 22 points vs. Denver (Dec. 28) and again at Denver (March 2).
Gibson has nine games with four or more 3-pointers, led by a five-triple efforts at Oregon (Dec. 8), vs. Denver (Dec. 28) and at Denver (March 2). He ranks sixth in the Summit League for 3-pointers made (73) and fifth for steals (34).
Gibson has scored in 61 straight contests and is Omaha's active career leader for threes made.
Feelin' Hahn, Hahn, Hahn
Mitch Hahn has been a major factor in Omaha's success, as the senior has averaged 16.7 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game with .540 shooting over the last 19 games. The numbers are up from his previous 10 games, during which he 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 a team-long 16 games from Dec. 15 to Feb. 20 before his streak was halted Feb. 23 at North Dakota State.
Over the final two regular-season games last week, Hahn averaged 26.5 points while shooting .667 (22-of-33) from the floor and .545 (6-of-11) from three to earn his second Summit League Player of the Week nod.
The Fremont, Neb., native also owns seven games with at least three 3-pointers, hitting a season-best four at Idaho (Dec. 15), vs. North Dakota State (Jan. 2), vs. South Dakota State (Feb. 14) and at Oral Roberts (Feb. 28). He has four double-doubles on the year.
The Pile Driver
Matt Pile is shooting at a .601 clip in his sophomore campaign, ranking second among Summit League players. He is the league leader for offensive rebounds (85) and also ranks fourth for total rebounds (219) and fifth for rebounds per game (7.6). Pile is 48th nationally for offensive rebounds per game (2.9).
The Goddard, Kan., native has scored in double digits 20 times this year, including eight straight since Feb. 3. In that span, Pile has averaged 13.5 points and 7.9 rebounds and shot .598 from the field, up a point and a half from the first half of league play.
Pile's is Omaha's active career leader in for blocks (57). He joined the top 15 in school history with a season-best four-block performance Jan. 20 vs. South Dakota.
Here's to You, Mr. Robinson
KJ Robinson has carried a 3.4 assist-to-turnover ratio this season to rank sixth nationally, including a 3.8 A/TO ratio in Summit League games. Over the last 10 games, he boasts a 4.1 ratio.
Robinson ranks eighth in the league for assists (88) and 10th for steals (28) and has dished out five or more helpers on six occasions. He is Omaha's active career leader for assists (179).
Additionally, Robinson has scored in double figures 16 times this season, including nine with 15+ points. He shot .467 (71-of-152) in league play, up from .430 (37-of-86) in non-conference.
Compared to the Opposition
Over its 29 contests this season, Omaha has:
•More or equal field goals made compared to its opponent 20 times
•More or equal 3-point field goals made compared to its opponent 15 times
•More or equal free throws made compared to its opponent 12 times
•More or equal rebounds compared to its opponent 16 times
•More or equal assists compared to its opponent 13 times
•More or equal steals compared to its opponent 21 times
•Fewer or equal turnovers compared to its opponent 23 times
•More or equal blocks compared to its opponent 11 times
Up Next
With a win Saturday night, Omaha takes on the winner of the Purdue Fort Wayne/South Dakota quarterfinal matchup in the semifinal round on Monday, March 11. Tipoff is set for 8:30 p.m. at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center in Sioux Falls, S.D., and the game will be broadcast on Midco and ESPN+. 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.
