CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - The Mavericks began their final road trip of 2024 with a 78-58 loss tonight against Northern Iowa, who received votes in the National Mid-Major Top 25 poll.
Omaha drops to 4-8 on the year, while the Panthers improve to 6-4.
Leaders for Omaha
Lance Waddles was Omaha's top scorer tonight with 14 points. His three baskets from behind the arc were tied with
JJ White who was also in double figures with 11.
Kamryn Thomas also put up double digits for the first time since November 14 at UNLV as he finished with 11.
Ja'Sean Glover was the fourth Maverick in double figures with 10 points, giving him five such games this year.
Marquel Sutton had his ninth career game with double digit rebounds as he led the team with 10 tonight.
Team Stats
The Mavericks lagged behind the Panthers in shooting as they were beat in field goal percentage at 47.8% (22-for-46) to 36.8% (21-for-57), three-point percentage at 42.9% (6-for-14) to 36.8% (12-for-32), and in free throw percentage at 80.0% (28-for-35) to 40.0% (4-for-10).
The rebounding game was close with Omaha only trailing by two at 36 to 34.
Inside the First Half
The name of the game early on was the long ball as a trio of quick threes from
Ja'Sean Glover,
Tony Osburn, and Waddles put the Mavericks up 9-5 after six minutes of play. Over the next 14 minutes, however, the Mavericks would only score 14.
After the Panthers fought back to tie it at 11-11, a bucket from
Joshua Streit put the Mavericks back in front with under 10 minutes to play. Both teams would trade leads over the next few minutes, before Waddles and Sutton scored eight-straight points for Omaha late in the period to put Omaha on top 23-18 with under five to go. Sutton's layup at 4:55 would end up being the last points the Mavericks scored in the half as the Panthers scored 16 unanswered to close out the half with a 34-23 lead.
Inside the Second Half
The scoring drought continued into the second half as the Panthers grew their lead to 43-23 before Thomas finally got Omaha back on the board with a three at 16:22. Thomas would have the next three Maverick points as well, followed by five straight from Waddles over the next five minutes. Down 52-34 with 11 minutes remaining, Thomas and White put up back-to-back treys to make it a 12-point game and force the Panthers to use a timeout with 10:14 on the clock.
Inside of the final 10 minutes Sutton got things started with his first three-pointer of the night, as well as his 10th rebound, before White got one in to cut the deficit down to 11 with under eight minutes left. The Mavericks continued to fight down the stretch with White making two more from behind the arc and Thomas coming up with the most impressive dunk by a Maverick this year at 5:05. In the end, however, these efforts were not enough as the Panthers went on to close out the game.
Game Notes
- Osburn is now two three-pointers away from 100 in his career.
- Sutton's march to 1000 career points continued as he now has 920.
Up Next
The Mavericks officially close out their road non-conference slate this Sunday at noon when they head to Ames, Iowa to face the highest ranked opponent in program history in No. 3 Iowa State.
