The Basics
Riding a nine-game winning streak and remaining in first place in the Summit League, the Mavericks close out the month and the first half of the conference schedule on Wednesday when they head up to Vermillion to face South Dakota at 7 p.m.

Gary Sharp will have the call on 1290 KOIL and links to live stats, audio, and video can be found at OMavs.com.

Quick Hits
• The 2024-25 Mavericks continued to etch their names in the record books after becoming the fifth team in program history to reach nine-straight victories. Tied with the 1981-82 and 1982-83 squads, the only two Omaha men's basketball teams with longer win streaks are the 2004-05 (12) and 1983-84 (13) teams. The 1983-84 team also owns the longest conference win streak in program history at 12 in a row, five more than the current team's streak.
• For the first time in the Crutchfield era, Omaha has received votes in the College Inside Mid-Major Top 25 poll. With 27 votes, Omaha is one of four Summit League teams to receive votes: St. Thomas (81, ranked 23rd), North Dakota Statr (69), and South Dakota State (8).
• Omaha's win streak is tied with Louisville for the eighth longest in the country this year, trailing only Utah Valley (10), McNeese (10), Aubrun (11), Michigan State (12), Houston (12), Cleveland State (12), and Duke (13).
• With 84 points on Saturday, Omaha has now had 11 games with 80+ points this year, including eight games during the current win streak. 
• JJ White had a performance for the ages on Saturday at Oral Roberts as he blew past his previous single-game high of 24 points by scoring 35, becoming the first Maverick this year to top 30 points. He made a career-best eight field goals, shooting 8-for-9 (88.9%) including 4-of-5 from deep. He also made a career-high 15 free throws (15-for-18, 83.3%). 
• With 50 total points, seven rebounds, six assists, a .650 FG% (13-for-20) and .792 FT% (19-for-24), White was named the KwikTrip Summit League Peak Performer of the Week for the first time in his career. This performance boosted him up to fourth in conference play in scoring with 131 points (18.7 ppg).
• Marquel Sutton had back-to-back 20-point game last week, giving him 16 such games in his career. He also ended the week at 29th on the all-time program scoring list (1098) and 19th on the all-time rebounding list (524).
• Ja'Sean Glover also continues to perform well during the current streak, posting three-straight double-digit scoring games for 43 points since January 15. He also has 14 rebounds, seven assists, five steals, and three blocks.
• Over the past nine games, Omaha is shooting .489 from the field and .399 from behind the arc, leading to 84.9 ppg. In 13 games before the streak, the Mavericks were shooting .423 overall and .341 on threes while averaging 68.1 ppg.
• With seven conference wins secured, Omaha has already tied its total from last season when the team went 7-9 and had not won its seventh game until February 22.
• 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 47-59 career record. This season marks his fourth year as a head coach and third with the Mavericks.

Scouting the South Dakota Coyotes
Sitting in the center of the Summit League standings, the Coyotes are currently 12-10 on the year with a 3-4 conference record after going 1-1 with a 102-93 win at North Dakota and a 90-71 loss at South Dakota State last week. USD's 85.9 ppg rank first in the league, while its 83.6 ppg allowed ranks last.

Senior transfer from Northwestern State Chase Forte already has a conference player of the week award under his belt this year and leads the Coyotes in several major categories. He is currently fifth in the league with 353 points, sixth with 16.0 ppg, fourth with a .497 FG%, third with 71 assists, and first with 40 steals. He also leads the team with 103 free throws and has pulled down 83 rebounds. On the year he has nine games with 20+ points.

The Bruns brothers Isaac and Paul are both having notable seasons as well, with Isaac, the younger of the two, slotting in at second on the team and 11th in the league with 311 points and 14.1 ppg, as well as leading all Coyotes with a .478 FG%, .857 FT% (third in the league), and 99 rebounds. The older brother meanwhile has 204 points (9.3 rpg) and is right behind Isaac with 95 rebounds (4.3 rpg). Cameron Fens, the top blocker in the league with 21, is also tied with Paul with 95 rebounds, though, he has the highest average on the team at 5.0 rpg.

Head Coach Eric Peterson is in his third season leading the Coyotes after previously serving as an assistant coach with from 2014-18. In between his two stints at USD, Peterson spent three seasons as an assistant at Utah State, helping guide the team to the NCAA Tournament each season.

All-Time Against South Dakota
Omaha swept the season series last year to improve to 49-54 all-time against South Dakota while also tying them 13-13 in the Division I era. Their first meeting last year saw Omaha win in Vermillion 67-51 on New Years Eve, before besting them again at Baxter in February 91-84. White totaled 29 points and six assists last year, while Sutton posted 27 points to go along with  17 rebounds. Kaleb Stewart led the Coyotes with 30 points across both games.