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

Gary Sharp will have the call on 1290 KOIL and links to live stats, audio, and video can be found at OMavs.com.

Quick Hits

• The Mavericks started off Summit League competition at 0-1 after falling 95-80 to Denver Friday night despite leading at halftime. The loss put Omaha at 6-8 on the season.
• Omaha was up 43-40 at the half and was outshooting the Pioneers across the board on field goals (53.9% to 48.6%), three-pointers (37.5% to 16.7%) and free throws (85.7% to 66.7%), before everything flipped in the second half and Denver gained the edge in each category.
• Frankie Fidler moved into 31st place on Omaha's all-time scoring list after adding a season-high 32 points vs. Denver to bring him to 1075 career points. This was his fourth career game scoring at least 30 points, with 19 coming in the first half alone.
• Marquel Sutton was the only other Maverick to score double-digits on Friday, totaling 19 points after shooting 8-for-10. His nine rebounds led the team as he was just one board shy of getting his second double-double of the season.
• Nick Davis moved up to sixth in the conference in blocks after stopping a season-high three shots vs. Denver, giving him 12 on the year.
• Tony Osburn and Jaeden Marshall each crossed 100 points on the season after the former scored two and the latter seven last time out.
• Grant Stubblefield, Marcel Bryant, Nick Davis, and Biko Johnson are Omaha's top newcomers coming into this season. 
• Stubblefield was named 6A Player of the Year and First Team All-State while at Blue Valley Northwest and Bryant was named the Austin Area Player of the Year at Cedar Ridge. Johnson is coming off his second season at Western Nebraska CC where he was named All-Conference and All-Nebraska, while Davis is fresh off winning GAC Defensive Player of the Year and a trip to the Sweet 16 of the Division II NCAA Tournament with Southern Nazarene. 
• Fidler was Omaha's lone All-Summit honoree last season, earning an Honorable Mention. He led Omaha in scoring (14.7 ppg), rebounding (5.8 rpg), steals (1.2 spg), and free throw percentage (.887), with his FT% in particular ranking in the NCAA's top-25 for most of the season.
• Head Coach Chris Crutchfield has a 25-40 career record. It marks his third season as a head coach and second with the Mavericks.

Scouting the South Dakota Coyotes
South Dakota is currently 8-6 on the season and 1-0 in the Summit League after winning their conference opener 75-66 at NDSU. They closed out their non-conference slate with three-straight losses to UC Irvine, CSU Bakersfield, and San Diego.

Senior forward Lahat Thioune is the Coyotes top all-around player with 14.9 ppg, 179 points, and a .551 FG% on offense, as well as being the only player on the team with triple digit rebounds at 133 (10.2 rpg). Against NDSU he pulled down a season-high 19 rebounds and scored 32 points.

Junior guard Paul Bruns (161 points, 11.5 ppg), Bostyn Holt (162 points, 11.6 ppg), and Kaleb Stewart (164 points, 14.9 ppg) join Thioune as the Coyotes with who have at least 100 points and 10.0 ppg on the season. Bruns also paces the team with 28 three-pointers, while Holt's 40 assists are USD's most.

Head Coach Eric Peterson is in his second season at the helm of the Coyotes after previously serving as an assistant coach with them from 2014-18. In between his two stints at USD, Peterson spent three seasons as an assistant at Utah State, helping guide the team to the NCAA Tournament in all three seasons.

All-Time Against South Dakota
Omaha is 47-54 all-time against South Dakota, including an 11-13 mark in the Division I era. Last year, the two teams split the season series, with the Mavericks losing the first game 84-68 and winning the second meeting 80-72. Frankie Fidler and Luke Jungers each totaled over 30 points across both games.