The Basics
The Omaha men's basketball team opens a five-game road trip this weekend with a Saturday contest at Ball State. The Mavericks and Cardinals will tipoff at 11 a.m. CT. Omaha is coming off a 67-57 win in its season opener vs. Hastings, while Ball State opened with a loss vs. Georgia Southern
The Mavericks will play the next five games on the road due to the Olympic Curling Trials being hosted in Baxter Arena. They'll open the season at Baxter on Nov. 30 vs. SIUE at 7 p.m.
Follow the Game
Gary Sharp will have the call on KOZN 1620. The game will be broadcasted on ESPN+ and links to the stream and live stats can be found on OMavs.com.
Quick Hits
• The Mavericks opened the season last Tuesday with a 67-57 win over the visiting Hasting Broncos.
•
Frankie Fidler,
Kyle Luedtke, and
Marco Smith notch double-figure scoring performances. Fidler put up a game-leading 15 points in his debut. He added six boards.
• Luedtke and Smith each added 10 points. Luedtke nabbed a career-high three steals, while Smith grabbed a personal best five rebounds.
• Omaha was tabbed eighth in the Summit League Preseason Poll. The Mavericks finished last season 5-20 overall with a 3-11 league finish. They earned the eighth seed in the Summit League Tournament last spring and fell to No. 1 South Dakota State in the opening round of action.
• The Mavericks return eight letterwinners and two starters from last season's squad. Returning from the lineup is sophomore guard
La'Mel Robinson and senior forward
Wanjang Tut.
• Robinson averaged 9.3 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 1.2 apg, and 1.0 spg over 24 games last season. He made 11 starts and scored double-figures in 11 games last year. He posted a career-high 23 points at South Dakota on Jan. 30 finishing 9-of-14 from the floor with three 3-pointers.
• Tut started all 20 games that he appeared in last season. He averaged 8.8 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 0.6 spg, and 0.6 bpg. Tut recorded six double-figure scoring performances including two 20+ point games. He put on a season-best all around performance at Wyoming last year with 27 points on 10-of-17 shooting with nine rebounds, four blocks, and an assist. His four blocks matched his career-high.
• Head coach
Derrin Hansen enters his 17th season at the helm. He has a 249-235 career record leading the Mavericks.
• The 2021-22 season is the 109th overall in program history and the 11th of the Mavericks' Division I era. All-time, the program is 1,203-1,222.
Last Time Out:
Omaha opened regular season action with a 67-57 win over Hastings Tuesday night at Ralston Arena. Three players finished in double-figures led by freshman
Frankie Fidler who led all-scorers with 15 points. Fidler also grabbed six boards.
Kyle Luedtke and
Marco Smith added 10 points each. Luedkte notched a career-best three steals, while Smith grabbed a personal best five rebounds.
Darrius Hughes fell short of a double-double with nine points and a career-high eight boards.
The Mavericks connected on 42 percent of their field goals and made four shots from the arc. Omaha dominated the paint 28-18 and provided 22 points off the bench.
Scouting the Ball State Cardinals
The Cardinals dropped their opener on the road to Georgia Southern, 82-71. Luke Bumbalough poured in a career high 21 points after connecting on five three-pointers. Prior to the season tipoff, Ball State was selected eighth in the MAC Preseason Poll. The Cardinals finished the 2020-21 season 10-13 overall. They added six fresh faces to join their nine returning Cardinals from last year.
Head coach James Whitford has compiled a 117-132 record while coaching Ball State for the last nine seasons.
All-Time Against Hastings
This marks the first ever meeting between Omaha and Ball State.
