AMES, Iowa - Facing off against the top team in the Big 12 and the highest ranked opponent in program history, the Mavericks led near the end of the first half but ultimately could not pull off the upset as they were defeated 83-51 by No. 3 Iowa State.
After its final road trip of 2024, Omaha sits at 4-9 on the year, while the first-place Cyclones move to 9-1.
Leaders for Omaha
Tony Osburn did it all for Omaha today, pacing the Mavericks with 13 points, five rebounds, and four steals. He also made three from behind the arc today as he crossed 100 career three-pointers, becoming the only active Maverick to do so.
Isaac Ondekane (12) and
JJ White (10) both scored in double figures as well.
Team Stats
The Cyclones bested Omaha in every shooting category today, holding the edge in field goal percentage at 53.3% (32-for-60) to 35.7% (20-for-56), three-point percentage at 30.0% (6-for-20) to 26.1% (6-for-23), and in free throw percentage at 72.2% (13-for-18) to 55.6% (5-for-9).
Omaha was also out-rebounded 39 to 27.
Inside the First Half
The Mavericks kept the pressure on throughout most of the first half, shocking the Cyclones as they eventually took a 19-18 lead with under eight minutes to play. Three times in the first five minutes Omaha fell behind and three times they managed to tie it back up. Ondekane had the team's first points of the day on a layup at 17:22 to make it 2-2, before Osburn got it to 5-5 30 seconds later with his first three-pointer. Two minutes after that, White had his first from behind the arc to even it up at 8-8.
With just over 10 minutes to play, White made his second deep shot of the day to briefly put the Mavericks in front 17-16. After the Cyclones responded to retake the lead, Osburn had a steal at mid-court and took it all the way to make it 19-18. Over the final eight minutes, however, Omaha only scored four more points while Iowa State started to heat up and put up another 23 to finish off the half up 41-23.
Inside the Second Half
Two minutes into the second, Osburn got his long awaited 100th career three-pointer after the Cyclones lost the ball right in front of Omaha's bench. He would get to 101 career threes with 11:49 remaining. Meanwhile,
Kamryn Thomas made a couple of impressive plays in the second, throwing down a towering dunk at 13:05 and scoring the final points of the day for Omaha at 3:20 with his first three-pointer.
Omaha's efforts were not enough, though, as the Cyclones continued to rack up points and put the game out of reach.
Game Notes
-
Marquel Sutton is now at 923 career points.
- White and Osburn each have six double-digit scoring performances on the year.
Up Next
With its road non-conference schedule complete, the Mavericks will finish off their remaining non-conference opponents at home over the next two weeks, starting with Cal Poly on Saturday, December 21 at 8 p.m.
