The Basics
The Mavericks hit the road for the final time in non-conference play this week when they head to Iowa for one of their toughest weekends of the season, starting with Northern Iowa, who received votes in the National Mid-Major poll, on Friday, December 13 at 7:00 p.m.

Gary Sharp will have the call on 1180 KZOT and links to live stats, audio, and video can be found at OMavs.com.

Quick Hits
• The Mavericks went 1-1 in the annual Big Sky-Summit Challenge last week, falling 76-65 at home to Montana State before topping Sacramento State 70-60 on the road.
• The win over the Hornets was one of Omaha's most dominant this year, with the team leading by 25 with 10 minutes left, at which point the Mavericks began emptying their bench. 
• Seeing action over the final minutes on Saturday were redshirt freshmen Sebastian Perry and Lincoln Palbicki, both of whom made their career debuts after joining the team last season. Perry also scored his first career points on a layup with just over 90 seconds to go.
• Saturday's game also saw the return of JJ White to the starting lineup after coming in exclusively off the bench through the first 10 games this year. He previously started 49 of 63 games over his first two seasons.
• Once again, Marquel Sutton's performance was the big story coming out of last week as he had his fifth game this year and 10th in his career with at least 20 points as he shot 9-for-17 (.529) against the Hornets for 23 points. In the process, he topped 900 career points, ending the night with 915. Sutton's 189 points and 81 rebounds both rank second in the Summit League.
• Tony Osburn turned in another strong performance at Sacramento State, scoring 15 for his fifth double-digit scoring game of the season. He broke into the top 20 in the league in scoring with 11.8 ppg and is now the team leader in FT% at .875 (21-for-24). Osburn is also just three 3-PT FGs away from 100 now.
• At Sacramento State, Omaha's starters outscored the other team's for the second time this year (53 to 36) after previously doing so at Stetson (57 to 53).
• Sutton earned his first career Summit League Preseason honor after being named Second Team All-Preseason in October. In 2023-24, he was second on the team with 12.3 PPG (406 total) and led all Mavericks with 6.3 RPG (208 total boards).
• Lance Waddles (NDSU), Joshua Streit (NDSU), and Isaac Ondekane (Lindenwood) headline the Mavericks' top transfers this year with the trio coming to Omaha with a combined six seasons of Division I basketball under their belts. Also new this year are top JUCO transfers Kamryn Thomas (2024 NJCAA Third Team All-American), Khamani Cooper (465 points as a freshman in 2024), and Valentino Simon (965 career points from 2022-24). 
• Omaha has three captains this year: Marquel Sutton, Tony Osburn, and Lance Waddles.
• Head Coach Chris Crutchfield has a 38-57 career record. This season marks his fourth year as a head coach and third with the Mavericks.

Scouting the Northern Iowa Panthers
The Panthers enter the week at 5-4 and are coming off back-to-back wins over UIC (83-56) and Northern Illinois (101-57) last week, with the former being their conference opener. As a team, UNI is outscoring opponents by an average of 11.1 points as the team is scoring 76.2 ppg and allowing 65.1. Northern Iowa also boasts a .519 FG% vs. a .411 FG% by the opposition.

Three Panthers are scoring at least 10 ppg, led by senior guard Tytan Anderson with 13.1 ppg and 118 total points. He is also the team's top rebounder with 6.1 rpg (55 total boards) and its top blocker with seven blocks. In addition to this, Anderson ranks second in assists (22) and in FG% (.562) among Panthers with at least 50 attempts.

Senior center Jacob Hutson is second on the Panthers with 11.9 ppg and 107 points, followed by redshirt junior guard Ben Schwieger with 10.6 ppg and 95 points. Both are shooting above .500 from the field, with Schwieger's .450 3-PT FG% placing second on the team behind Trey Campbell (.500). Also notable is redshirt sophomore guard Leon Bond III whose .589 FG% is the best on the team while his 5.2 rpg (47 total) are second.

Now in his 19th year as a head coach and with the program, five-time MVC Coach of the Year Ben Jacobson boasts 359 career wins leading the Panthers, including nine seasons with at least 20 wins and two with at least 30. During this time he has led UNI to four NCAA Tournament appearances and wins, four MVC Tournament titles, and four MVC Regular Season titles. 

All-Time Against Northern Iowa
This week marks the first ever meeting between Omaha and Northern Iowa in the Division I era after going an even 5-5 back in the Division II days. The last meeting came exactly 32 years ago to the day of this Friday's game when UNI won 61-51. The meeting before that was 13 years earlier in the Omaha Regional of the Division II NCAA Tournament, with the Panthers also winning 84-75.