OMAHA, Neb. - The Mavericks suffered just their second home loss of the season on Saturday as they were narrowly defeated 74-72 by Kansas City to snap a three-game winning streak at Baxter Arena.
Omaha slips to 10-11 on the season and 3-3 in Summit League play, while the Roos improve to 8-12 with a 2-3 conference record.
Leaders for Omaha
All five Maverick starters scored in double figures today.
Marquel Sutton led the Mavericks with his second-straight game with at least 20 points as he shot 7-for-13 for 21 points. He and
Frankie Fidler (15 points) were tied for the team lead with two steals each. Meanwhile, JJ white (10 points) was first on the team with six assists,
Tony Osburn (12 points) was first in three-pointers with four, and
Nick Davis led the team with eight rebounds and two blocks.
Leaders for Kansas City
Cameron Faas went 5-for-7 from behind the arc to lead the Roos with 15 points. Khristion Courseault led all players today with seven assists, while David Allen Mukeba paced Kansas City with seven rebounds.
Team Stats
Both teams were incredibly efficient from the field today, with Omaha on top in FG% at 51.0% to 44.6%, while the Roos held a slight lead in 3-PT FG% at 44.0% to 41.7%.
Inside the First Half
Davis opened scoring on the day with one from the line, before going up and swatting away a shot from the Roos to keep them off the board in the first minute. Osburn had himself another fast start as he went 2-for-2 from behind the arc within the first three minutes to fuel an 11-6 start. Kansas City, though, recovered from a sluggish start to score 12 of the next 16 to take an 18-15 lead halfway through the period.
With under 10 minutes to play, Sutton quickly tied the game with his first three of the day. It turned into a back and forth affair after that as both teams continued to trade leads, with Osburn's third triple again tying it at 23-23. Back-to-back layups from Davis gave Omaha a four-point lead with 6:30 remaining, only for six unanswered from Kansas City to put them back on top.
Three more points from Sutton put him at double figures on the day and got Omaha back within one, before a jumper from Fidler made it 34-33 with three minutes to go. Another three from the line from Davis and a buzzer-beating jumper from White would close out the half with Omaha trailing by one.
Inside the Second Half
The first two minutes of the half saw three quick lead changes, beginning with the fourth three-pointer of the day for Osburn just 10 seconds in. Four minutes in, a Davis hook shot followed by a pair from the line from White gave Omaha its biggest lead yet at 52-47. At 14:20, Sutton would maintain the five-point lead after White lobbed one up and he put it down for the alley-oop on the fastbreak.
After the hot start, each team would only score seven points over the next eight minutes. However, coming out of this stretch were back-to-back Kansas City threes that would give them a 62-61 lead with five and a half minutes left. Buckets from White and Fidler managed to tie it back up at 65-65 with four minutes remaining, before an and-one from Sutton made 68-67 90 second later. Another three for Kansas City gave them back the lead, but a layup from Fidler off the inbound once again tied it with just 1:34 left.
The game would remain tied at 72-72 after Sutton made two from the stripe at 0:37. Out of the timeout, though, the Roos went up by two with just 12 seconds on the clock and successfully held on to defeat Omaha.
Game Notes
- Omaha's starting five scored all of the team's points today, with the bench only attempting three field goals.
- This is the third game this season that five Mavericks have scored double figures.
- The game featured a remarkable 17 lead changes and 16 ties.
Up Next
The Mavericks close out the month of January on the road next week when they begin their road trip at Oral Roberts on Thursday at 7 p.m.
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