OMAHA, Neb. -- The Omaha men's basketball team came from behind to win Saturday night, defeating Purdue Fort Wayne 75-71 at Baxter Arena. With their 16th straight home win, the Mavericks improve to 12-10 (5-2 Summit League) and are half a game back from first place in the conference standings. The Mastodons drop to 9-13 (2-5).
 
Leaders for Omaha
JT Gibson knocked down five 3-pointers en route to a team-leading 23 points on 8-of-16 shooting, adding three rebounds, three assists and a steal in 36 minutes of work.
 
Matt Pile posted his second straight double-double -- and eighth of the season -- on 12 points and 11 rebounds. KJ Robinson and Marlon Ruffin matched each other with 11 points, with Robinson dishing out a season-high six assists. Zach Thornhill contributed another 10 points with three boards, four assists and a steal.
 
Leaders for Purdue Fort Wayne
Jarred Godfrey totaled a game-high 24 points with four rebounds, five assists and four steals. Deonte Billups added 13 points alongside five caroms, three assists and a pair of steals.
 
Team Stats
Omaha shot 50.0% (27-of-54) to Purdue Fort Wayne's 48.1% (26-of-54) and had a slight edge on the glass, 31-30. The Mavericks limited themselves to nine miscues and outscored the Mastodons 21-10 off turnovers.
 
Inside the First Half
Omaha started 7-of-9 from the floor to open the game, assuming a 20-7 lead -- their largest of the night -- by the first timeout after a combined four triples from its senior duo of Gibson and Robinson. The Mavericks, who opened the game on an 8-0 run, held a double-digit lead much of the way and had a 39-32 advantage at the break.
 
Gibson had 13 points with three treys in the opening 20, and the Mavericks shot 50.0% (14-of-28) as a team.
 
Inside the Second Half
Purdue Fort Wayne stormed back in the second half, tying the game at 44-44 before going ahead for the first time at 53-50 on a Marcus DeBerry three with 12:08 to go.
 
It was back and forth from there until the Mastodons build to their largest lead when a 5-0 run made it 71-66 with four minutes left. But a Pile putback cut it to three just before the final media timeout, and Gibson came up big with a three from the left wing to knot it once more at 71-71 with 1:55 remaining. Buckets from Robinson and Ruffin finished it off, as Omaha scored nine unanswered points to close the game.
 
Noting Tonight's Game
-Omaha entered the weekend tied for the nation's eighth-longest home win streak. The Mavericks are a perfect 10-0 at home in 2019-20.
-Purdue Fort Wayne leads the all-time series with Omaha 11-8, but the Mavericks have won five straight and three consecutive at Baxter Arena.
-Omaha's crowd of 2,704 was its third-largest of the season.
-The Mavericks shot 50.0% for the seventh time this year.
-Omaha's nine turnovers marked their fourth single-digit turnover effort of the season.
 
Up Next
Omaha welcomes South Dakota on Sunday, Feb. 2, with tipoff set for Noon at Baxter Arena. The game will be broadcast live on YurView Cox Channel 13, ESPN3 and Midco with Donny Baarns and Jon Schriner on the call, and Gary Sharp and Kyler Erickson will have the radio call on 1180 Zone 2. Links to live video, audio and stats will be available on OMavs.com.