OMAHA, Neb. - In the final home game of 2023, the Mavericks led at the half but could not hold on in the second as Denver bested them 95-80 in the Summit League opener on Friday night. This is the first home loss for Omaha this year after starting the season 5-0 in Baxter Arena.

Omaha is now 6-8 on the season and starts off 0-1 in conference play, while the Pioneers improve to 9-5 as they begin 1-0 in the Summit.

Leaders for Omaha 
Frankie Fidler had his best game of the season as he topped 30 points for the first time this year with 32. Overall, he went 9-for-15 from the field and made a team-high three from behind the arc and 11 free throws. He also had four steals to pace the Mavericks. Marquel Sutton was Omaha's only other double-digit scorer as he racked up 19 after shooting 8-for-10. He fell a single rebound short of a double-double after leading the team with nine boards.

Meanwhile, Nick Davis had a season-best three blocks on defense, giving 12 on the year.

Leaders for Denver
Tommy Bruner and Touko Tainamo both shot 8-for-13, with the former leading the Pioneers with 25 points and the latter notching a double-double with 20 points and a team-high 12 rebounds. Bruner's eight assists were also the most on the team.

Team Stats 
Denver outshot Omaha on field goals (54.2% to 47.4%), three-pointers (38.1% to 25.0%) and free throws (74.2% to 62.9%). The Mavericks were also out-rebounded 37 to 31. 

Inside the First Half 
After an early bucket and an and-one from Fidler made it 8-3 Omaha at 17:13, the Pioneers responded by scoring six-straight to go up by one less than 90 seconds later. Both teams would remain deadlocked from then on, trading leads throughout the remainder of the half, starting with a three from Fidler at 15:36 to briefly put the Mavericks back on top. JJ White and Jaeden Marshall later made back-to-back buckets to make it 15-13 Omaha with 13:27 on the clock, while two more points each from Sutton and Fidler kept them in front 21-20 going into the final 10 minutes of the half.

Six free throws from Fidler and Davis gave Omaha another five-point lead at 27-22, but once again the Pioneers came right back and went up 30-29 with just over five minutes to go. The Mavericks wasted no time retaking the lead, though, scoring six in a row, later followed by Marshall's first three-pointer of the night at 2:48 to make it 39-33. The 19th point of the half from Fidler and two more from the stripe for White sent Omaha to the half up 43-40.

Inside the Second Half 
Denver quickly started to pull away at the start of the second, scoring seven unanswered in the first minute and outscoring the Mavericks 16-6 in the first five minutes to take a 56-49 lead. Meanwhile, four more points from Fidler got him over 20 on the day, while a couple of layups from Sutton got him into double digits. The Pioneers continued to grow their lead heading into the final 10 minutes as Omaha was held to a bucket each for Sutton and White and a free throw from Davis while Denver extended its lead to 70-58.

The deficit would eventually reach 20 points over the final eight minutes despite Fidler making his third bucket of the night from behind the arc at 6:54 and White connecting with Sutton on a huge alley-oop a minute later. Though the Mavericks would ultimately fall by 15, Fidler continued to put up numbers over the final minutes, making his 11th free throw of the game to put him at 30 on the night, while his final basket of the day came on a floater with 28 seconds left to give him 32 points.

Game Notes 
- Tony Osburn and Jaeden Marshall became the fourth and fifth Mavericks to reach 100 points this season, joining Fidler, Sutton, and Davis.
- Fidler moved into 31st on Omaha's all-time scoring list with 1075 career points. Today also marked his first game of the season with at least 30 points and the fourth of his career.
- Sutton got his scoring average back into double digits, entering the day at 9.9 ppg and ending with 10.6

Up Next 
The Mavericks close out 2023 with a nationally televised New Year's Eve game on CBS Sports Network when they head to Vermillion, S.D. to face South Dakota on Sunday at 2 p.m.

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