The Basics
The Mavericks are back in Baxter this week when they host North Dakota this Thursday at 7 p.m.

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 enter the week at 8-9 overall and 1-1 in Summit League play after they went 1-1 in the Big Sky-Summit Challenge last week.
• Omaha soundly defeated Northern Arizona 81-55 in game one of the Challenge, but lost at the last second on a near buzzer beater in a 63-62 loss at Idaho State. The Mavericks shot 51.1% (47-for-92) across both games and totaled 67 rebounds, while their opponents only shot 40.7% (42-for-103) and recorded 52 rebounds.
• Frankie Fidler had his 15th double-digit scoring game of the season on Saturday and finished the week with 33 points, a 45.0 FG%, and 10 total rebounds. He now has 11-straight double-digit scoring games and also moved up a spot to 22nd place in Omaha's all-time scoring list with 1135 points.
• Jamal Ambrose recorded the first three-pointer of his career on Wednesday and the first two blocks of his career on Saturday. His nine points last week are the most he has logged in a single week so far.
• 22 of Omaha's 35 total blocks this season have come in the last six games. Nick Davis leads the way with seven blocks in that span.
• JJ White posted his 20th career double-digit scoring game at ISU and topped 100 points on the season vs. NAU. Along with Fidler (58) and Marquel Sutton (26), he is one of three active Mavericks with at least 20 such games. White also tied his season high with five assists on Saturday and set a new season best with three steals.
• 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 27-41 career record. It marks his third season as a head coach and second with the Mavericks.

Scouting the North Dakota Fighting Hawks
After an 8-4 start, the Fighting Hawks have lost five straight, including conference losses to St. Thomas and SDSU and both games of the Big Sky-Summit Challenge against Northern Colorado and Northern Arizona to slip to 8-9 (0-2).

UND's offense is led by sophomores B.J. Omott (269 points, 15.8 ppg) and Treysen Eaglestaff (246 points, 14.5 ppg), along with the most accurate shooter on the team, fifth year Tsotne Tsartsidze, who boasts a .453 FG% and .771 FT%. 

On defense, junior Amar Kulijuhovic recently became the first Fighting Hawk to reach triple digit rebounds this year with an even 100 (6.3 rpg). Meanwhile, sophomore Eli King leads the way in steals with 22, and Omott is first in blocks with 15.

In his fifth year at the helm of the Fighting Hawks, Head Coach Paul Sather owns a 51-89 record. He led UND to the Summit League Tournament Championship in his first season (2019-20) and logged a victory over the Huskers. During his nine-year tenure with Northern State, he made it all the way to the NCAA Division II Title game in the 2017-18 season.

All-Time Against North Dakota
Omaha trails North Dakota 43-48 in the all-time series, but holds an 11-3 edge in the Division I era. The two have split the season series in each of the last three seasons. Both games were incredibly close last year, with the Mavericks taking the first meeting 69-63 and falling in the second 76-73 in overtime. Frankie Fidler had 42 points and 13 rebounds across both games.