OMAHA, Neb. - In the opening game of the annual Big Sky-Summit Challenge, the Mavericks fell short against the reigning Big Sky champion Montana State 76-65.
Beginning December with a loss, Omaha now finds itself at 3-7, while the Bobcats improve to 4-5.
Leaders for Omaha
Sutton had his third 20-point game and ninth-straight double-digit scoring game of the season with a team-high 22 points today. He also shot 7-for-11 (.636) from the field and 8-for-10 (.800) on free throws while leading the team with seven rebounds.
Tony Osburn was second on the team with 12 points, followed by
Isaac Ondekane with 11 after going 5-for-5 on field goals.
Team Stats
The bulk of Omaha's scoring came in the paint today as they edged out MSU 38-30. Despite this, the Bobcats outshot the Mavericks across the board at 54.0% (27-for-50) to 44.4% (24-for-54) on field goals, 81.3% (13-for-16) to 75.0% (15-for-20) on free throws, and, in what proved to be the difference maker, 42.9% (9-for-21) to 10.5% (2-for-19) on three-pointers.
Omaha just managed to out-rebound Montana State 29 to 28.
Inside the First Half
Through nearly eight minutes of play, the Mavericks found themselves trailing 18-9. Fortunes quickly changed, however, when
Pablo Soumare, in a rare appearance, jump started what turned out to be an 18-2 run by the Mavericks over the next six minutes.
After Soumare's layup got things started,
Tony Osburn responded with an and-one, followed by a bucket from Ondekane to make it 18-16. The Bobcats then scored their only points during this run at 10:36, only for the Mavericks to come back and score 11 unanswered over the next four minutes. Ondekane would make his fourth layup of the night at 9:00, before
Khamani Cooper drained back-to-back threes and made a perfect pass to
Joshua Streit who capitalized with the final points of the run to give Omaha a 27-20 lead with 6:03 remaining.
MSU, though, retook control of the court over the final minutes of the half and finished with a 33-29 lead after outscoring Omaha 13-2.
Inside the Second Half
After an uncharacteristic first half for Sutton in which he scored zero points, Omaha's leading scorer came out of the gates hot in the second as he rattled off 10 points while shooting 4-for-4 to eventually tie the game at 43-43 at 14:18. Once again, however, the Bobcats quickly responded and regrew their lead to 10 points at 59-49 halfway through.
Over the final 10 minutes Omaha kept pace with the Bobcats, only slightly being outscored 17-14 with another eight points for Sutton. By then, though, the deficit was too great as Montana State was able to hold on take the opening game of the Big Sky-Summit Challenge.
Game Notes
- Osburn joined Sutton as the second Maverick this season to reach 100 points with his second score of the second half.
- All 22 of Sutton's points came in the second half.
Full Postgame Press Conference
Up Next
The Big Sky-Summit Challenge concludes this weekend when the Mavericks head to California to face Sacramento State on Saturday at 3 p.m. (CT).
