TULSA, Okla. - Led by an incredible performance from
JJ White, the win streak continued tonight as the Mavericks picked up their ninth consecutive victory after topping Oral Roberts 84-76. This ties the team with the 1981-82 and 1982-83 teams for the third longest winning streak in program history.
Now at 13-9 with a 7-0 Summit League record, Omaha remains in first place in the conference to end the week. Meanwhile, the Golden Eagles drop to 5-15 with a 1-6 conference record.
This was also the team's first win in Tulsa since January 23, 2016.
Leaders for Omaha
White blew past his previous career high in points (24) with a 35-point performance tonight. He shot a team-best 8-for-9, including 4-for-5 from deep, and a career-best 15-for-18 from the line.
Also having a big night was
Marquel Sutton with his 16th career game scoring at least 20 with 21.
Ja'Sean Glover was in double figures as well with 16.
Tony Osburn was the team's leading rebounder with eight.
Team Stats
Omaha swept ORU in shooting tonight, topping them in FG% at 48.1% (25-for-52) to 47.3% (26-for-55), 3-PT FG% at 42.9% (9-for-21) to 26.9% (7-for-26), and in FT% at 78.1% (25-for-32) to 68.0% (17-for-25).
The Mavericks also held a sizable lead in rebounds at 34 to 29.
Inside the First Half
After pulling ahead 6-5 on a layup from Sutton at 17:38, the Mavericks never again trailed in the game. The Golden Eagles would keep it close through the 10-minute mark as they only trailed by five, but it would not take long for Omaha to begin pulling away as a 9-0 scoring run starting with back-to-back layups from Sutton and ending with a three from White made it 28-16 with seven minutes to go.
With a 10-point lead in tow, the Mavericks soon took their largest lead yet at 3:36 when Glover drained a pair of threes within 30 seconds of each other to make it 38-22. As time ran out in the half, White capped off a strong opening 20 from Omaha with his third of the night from behind the arc to give Omaha 45-28 lead at the half.
Inside the Second Half
A slow start to the second saw Omaha's lead cut to 11 within the first two minutes, prompting an early timeout. Osburn would end the Golden Eagles' run out of the break with his first three, but that would not stop them as they soon pulled within nine at 15:40. Sutton, though, was able to swing momentum back in Omaha's favor for a time when he threw down a massive dunk to silence the crowd.
After another layup from White got the lead back to 17 with 10:50 remaining, ORU got hot again and slowly started to chip away at the deficit until it was back in single digits with under five minutes to play. Fortunately, White would make five more from the charity stripe to blow past his previous single-game scoring high while growing the lead back to 75-65 at the four-minute mark.
With just two minutes left, the Golden Eagles were closing in and even cut the lead down to 75-71, until White drained yet another three-pointer to give Omaha just enough of a buffer to hold them off and take the game.
Game Notes
- Sutton moved up two spots on the all-time scoring leaderboard as he ends the night in 29th place with 1098 career points. He also moves up the all-time rebounding list as he is now tied for 19th with 524.
- With 259 points on the season, White is closing in on his totals from the previous two seasons of 272 and 304.
Up Next
Omaha closes out January and the first half of conference play next Wednesday when they make the short trip up to Vermillion to face South Dakota at 7 p.m.
