The Basics
The Omaha men's basketball team closes its four-game home stand this Wednesday, Feb. 5, hosting North Dakota State. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at Baxter Arena, and the game will be broadcast live on YurView Cox Channel 13, ESPN+ and Midco with Donny Baarns on play-by-play and Jon Schriner providing color commentary. 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.
Quick Hits
• Wednesday night's game marks the first matchup between Omaha and North Dakota State since last year's Summit League Championship Final in Sioux Falls.
• Omaha looks to right the ship after its 16-game home win streak was snapped Sunday. The Mavericks have dropped consecutive home losses just once since moving into Baxter Arena in 2015-16, falling to Oral Roberts and North Dakota State to close the 2017-18 campaign.
• The Mavericks lead the Summit League in average home attendance, which is also their best of the Division I era.
• Omaha started 3-0 in Summit League play and was the last undefeated team in the conference until falling at South Dakota on Jan. 11, which snapped its season-long four-game win streak.
• According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index, Omaha is 121st for strength of schedule -- the highest of any league team.
• Omaha was picked fourth in the Summit League's preseason poll, and
Matt Pile and
JT Gibson were both second-team Preseason All-Summit picks.
• The Mavericks had a 3.14 semester GPA as a team in the fall semester. It marked their third straight semester with a GPA of 3.0 or higher.
• The 2019-20 season is the 107th overall in program history and the ninth of the Mavericks' Division I era. All-time, the program is 1,193-1,197.
•
JT Gibson,
KJ Robinson,
Ayo Akinwole and
Matt Pile will serve as first-time team captains this season.
Scouting the North Dakota State Bison
North Dakota State has a record of 16-7 (7-2 Summit League) after a 71-60 win at Purdue Fort Wayne last Saturday for its third straight victory. The Bison closed the game on a 26-8 run over the final 6:30, spurred by 14 points in that span from Cameron Hunter, who finished with 20. Vinnie Shahid led all players with 22 points and added six rebounds and three assists.
Shahid has averaged a team-leading 17.3 points per game, which ranks fifth in the conference this season. NDSU was picked as the favorite in the Summit League's preseason poll, and Shahid was a first-team Preseason All-Summit selection while Tyson Ward was a second-team pick.
Head coach David Richman is in his sixth season in Fargo with a career record of 112-74.
All-Time Against North Dakota State
Wednesday marks the 77th meeting between Omaha and North Dakota State, with the Bison leading the all-time series, 45-31, including 11-5 in the Mavericks' Division I era. Omaha swept the regular-season series from NDSU last year, winning 90-77 at home on Jan. 2, 2019, then 58-50 on the road on Feb. 23, 2019, before falling 73-63 in the Summit League Championship Final on March 12, 2019.
Omaha is 3-1 against NDSU when games are set at Baxter Arena, though the Bison have a 4-3 advantage in Omaha since 2012-13.
Last Time Out: Mavericks' Home Win Streak Stopped With 81-80 Loss to USD
Omaha saw a 14-point lead slip away Sunday afternoon, falling 81-80 to South Dakota at Baxter Arena. The loss snapped Omaha's 16-game home win streak and was its first loss at Baxter since Dec. 30, 2018.
KJ Robinson led the way with 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting with four 3-pointers, adding five rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Matt Pile just missed a double-double with 19 points and nine boards, finishing 8-of-12 from the field.
Zach Thornhill and
Ayo Akinwole matched each other with 10 points. Akinwole finished 8-of-9 at the stripe.
Omaha shot 48.3% (28-of-58) to South Dakota's 44.1% (26-of-59) and outrebounded the Coyotes 35-30. USD finished at 96.0% at the line, hitting 24-of-25.
Up Next
Omaha visits South Dakota State on Saturday, Feb. 8, with tipoff set for 4:15 p.m. at Frost Arena in Brookings, S.D. 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.
