The Basics
The Mavericks play five of their next seven games on the road and will open the stretch with the Bison Thursday night. Tipoff between Omaha and North Dakota State is set for 7 p.m. The Mavericks are coming off a 69-68 buzzer beater win vs. Kansas City, while the Bison look to rebound after a loss to South Dakota State. A win on Thursday would be the first road win for Omaha this season.

Gary Sharp will have the call on 1180 KZOT, and links to live stats, audio, and video can be found at OMavs.com.

Quick Hits
• Omaha will play two games on the road this week starting at North Dakota State and followed by North Dakota. The Mavericks are still looking for their first road win of the year.
• Frankie Fidler helped Omaha snap a six-game skid over the weekend with a 69-68 win vs. Kansas City. The freshman forward put up a career and game-high 25 points, including the buzzer beater to clinch the win.
• Fidler is now the third Maverick to score 20+ points in a game. Nick Ferrarini and Felix Lemetti each have two on the year.
• In league action, Fidler is averaging 13.1 ppg to lead Omaha. He sits 17th on the Summit League individual leaderboards.
• Dylan Brougham also notched a new career-best in the meeting vs. the Roos. He scored 13 points and also matched his career-high five rebounds.
• The win vs. the Roos marked the first time the Mavericks won a game on a Saturday this season. It also marked the first win in gray uniforms.
• Omaha nearly pulled off an upset Thursday night vs. Oral Roberts. The game saw four lead changes and two ties, but despite cutting the lead down to nine in the final minutes, The Mavericks fell short, 100-88.
• Five players scored double-figures and were led by Ferrarini who poured in 20 points off the bench. It marked the second time this season he scored at least 20 in a game. He scored 23 vs. Eastern Washington for a career-high.
• Darrius Hughes also posted a big performance off the bench with 16 points, while Lemetti scored 17. Fidler added 14 points.
• Akol Arop notched his first career double-double with 10 points and a career-high 13 boards. Eight of them were on the offensive glass.
• Omaha has used seventh starting lineups this season. Lemetti is the lone player to start every game this year. The lineup of Lemetti, Smith, Fidler, Brougham, and Arop have led the Mavericks to their last three wins.
• Since joining the line-up, Arop has stepped up for the Mavericks defensively. He's currently averaging 6.7 rebounds per game and 1.2 blocks per game in league contests. Overall, his 4.7 rpg ranks 18th and .8 bpg ranks fifth in the league.
• Overall, the Mavericks rank fourth in blocked shots with 2.73 per game. In league action, Omaha averages 2.6, which ranks fifth.
• The Mavericks are also on the leaderboards in assists. They're averaging 11.9 assists in conference play.
• Lemetti and Smith are on the individual charts. Both dish out 3.5 apg to tie for fourth. Overall, Lemetti leads the Mavericks with 2.9 apg to rank seventh in the league, while Smiths 2.8 apg sits eighth.
• Head coach Derrin Hansen enters his 17th season at the helm. He has a 252-253 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 1,206-1,340.

Scouting the North Dakota State Bison
The Bison are 14-8 overall and 6-4 in league play. South Dakota State handed them their first loss in three games Saturday, 80-76. Before the fall, NDSU earned an overtime win vs. South Dakota and downed St. Thomas and Oral Roberts.

Rocky Kreuser leads the Bison with 16.2 ppg and 8.0 rpg. He ranks fourth in the Summit League in scoring and second in rebounding. He's scored double-figures in 17 games this season and notched six double-doubles. He most recently scored 25 points in the loss to SDSU.

The Bison are coaches by David Richman. He is in his eighth season at the helm with an overall record of 150-95.

All-Time Against North Dakota State
North Dakota State leads the all-time record 47-31. The Bison took wins in both meetings last season.

The teams met at Baxter Arena in early January. NDSU snatched a 71-67 win vs. Omaha. Ferrarini scored a team-high 12 points on 5-of-14 from the field. Fidler added another 10 on 50 percent of his attempts.