CEDAR CITY, Utah - Taking on undefeated Southern Utah, the Mavericks fought back from a 20-point deficit and got within two in the final minute, but were unable to complete the comeback as they were bested 79-73.
Omaha falls below .500 for the first time this year at 2-3, while the Thunderbirds remain perfect at 4-0.
Leaders for Omaha
Lance Waddles had his first 20-point game as a Maverick as he led the team with eight field goals, shooting 53.3%.
Marquel Sutton and
Ja'Sean Glover each totaled 12 points, with the former also pacing all Mavericks with six rebounds and two blocks.
Team Stats
Omaha outshot SUU from the field.475 (29-for-61) to .443 (27-for-61) and from behind the arc at .462 (6-for-133) to .367 (11-for-30), though, the Thunderbirds held a slight edge in free throws at .583 (14-for-24) to .563 (9-for-16).
The Mavericks were out-rebounded for only the second time this year at 42 to 36.
Inside the First Half
Omaha led for most of the first 10 minutes after
Tony Osburn and Waddles got things started with back-to-back jumpers to quickly make it 4-0. A dunk from
Kamryn Thomas at 17:23 made it 6-5 after the Thunderbirds briefly took the lead, before a 6-0 scoring run grew the lead to 12-7 at the 15-minute mark. A three from Thomas would be the only points scored by the Mavericks over the next six minutes, however, as SUU took an 18-15 lead with nine to play.
Omaha did manage to tie the game back up at 6:38 off a jumper from
JJ White, but the Thunderbirds came right back and outscored the Mavericks 10-2 over the next three and a half minutes.to take an eight-point lead. With three minutes remaining, Osburn got Omaha back on the board with his first three of the day to cut the lead back down to five, only for SUU to go on another late run and close out the half up 41-32.
Inside the Second Half
After the Thunderbirds opened the second half with a three to grow their lead to 12,
Isaac Ondekane and Sutton made a pair of layups to get the deficit back down to eight. However, SUU responded with nine unanswered over the next three minutes until a three from
Khamani Cooper at 14:00 ended Southern Utah's run. Glover scored eight of Omaha's next 11 points, including his first three-pointer which kick started a 14-0 scoring run that cut SUU's lead down to 67-61 with less than four minutes to play.
Later, down by nine with the clock under two minutes, White and Waddles made back-to-back three-pointers to make it a three-point game. Then, with 31 seconds left Glover scored his 10th point of the day to get it down to a two-point game. This proved to be as close as it would get, though, as SUU made four straight free throws to put the game out of reach in the closing seconds.
Game Notes
- Sutton now has four consecutive double digit scoring games, totaling 66 points in that span.
- Glover now has 59 points on the season, already surpassing his total of 54 from 2023-24 in 14 fewer games.
Up Next
The Mavericks will have three games next week as they head to Akron, Ohio to compete in the Akron Basketball Classic. First up is Alabama State on Friday at 7:309 p.m. (CT), followed by Akron on Saturday at 3 p.m. and finally Lamar on Sunday at 11 a.m.
