Minneapolis, MINN. - In their first matchup of the season against a Power 5 opponent, the Mavericks led Minnesota for much of the game and nearly came back to win it in the final minutes, but ultimately were defeated 68-64.
After playing their second game in 36 hours, Omaha ends opening week at 2-1, while the Gophers move to 2-0.
Leaders for Omaha
Four Mavericks scored in double figures today, led by
Kamryn Thomas with 14 points. He was also tied with
Ja'Sean Glover for the team lead in assists with three. Right behind Thomas was
Marquel Sutton, who fell a single rebound short of his second straight double-double as he scored 13 today.
Team Stats
For the second game in a row, Omaha was outshot from the field .412 (21-for-51) to .455 (25-for-55), but finished with a superior 3-PT FG% at .300 (6-for-20) to .176 (3-for-17) and FT% at .696 (16-for-23) to .577 (15-for-26).
Omaha also won the rebounding game at 37 to 34.
Inside the First Half
Following a scoreless opening minute, Thomas got the scoring started with a trey at 18:24, followed by another three from
Lance Waddles 40 seconds later. Despite steady scoring from Sutton and
Isaac Ondekane over the next few minutes, the Gophers, soon took their first lead of the day and held it for most of the half.
It was not until the final five minutes that Omaha retook the lead on a layup from Glover at 4:20 to make it 24-23. With under two minutes to go, Thomas extended the lead to three points after making the and-one, before
JJ White once again made the final bucket of the half to make it 33-30.
Inside the Second Half
Another three points from Ondekane and Sutton gave Omaha its largest lead yet at 36-30 just a minute and a half into the second half. Over the next five minutes, however, the Gophers fought their way back and retook the lead 39-38. The lead would change three more times until both teams ended up tied at 45-45 with 11:43 on the clock.
Back-to-back buckets from Ondekane and Sutton regrew the lead to four points as the Mavericks would remain in front for nearly five minutes. Once again, however, Minnesota came back and tied it 57-57 at 5:51, before taking the lead a few seconds later and holding it for the rest of the game. Omaha threatened a few times down the stretch, cutting the deficit to a single point multiple times, but in the end the Gophers just held on to take the game.
Game Notes
- At the end of the first week, Sutton leads the Mavericks with 42 points (14.0 ppg) and 21 rebounds (7.0 rpg).
- Thomas has so far made a huge impact in his first year of Division I action, shooting .556 from the field, scoring 28 points, and ranking second on the team with 17 boards
- Fellow Summit League school Oral Roberts played Minnesota on Wednesday, falling 80-57.
Up Next
Omaha heads west next week for the middle leg of its seven-straight road games, starting off with a game at UNLV on Thursday at 9 p.m. (CT) in Las Vegas.
