FARGO, N.D. - It did not take long for
Marquel Sutton to make history today as it took all of 11 minutes for him to join some elite company and officially enter the 1000 Point Club as the Mavericks, led by a career day from
Lance Waddles, took down North Dakota State 85-80 for the team's first road win in Fargo since February 23, 2019.
Sutton is now the 44th Maverick in history and 10th to exclusively play in the Division I era to reach 1000 career points.
Omaha is now just one game below .500 at 8-9 on the season while also moving to 2-0 to begin Summit League play. The team's four road wins are its most in a season since 2019-20. As for the Bison, the 23rd ranked team in the national Mid-Major poll drops to 11-6 as they begin their conference schedule at 0-2.
Leaders for Omaha
Sutton totaled 16 points today while also pulling down a team-high 12 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season and eighth of his career. Meanwhile, Waddles, facing his old team, was tops on the Mavericks with 24 points thanks to a career-high five three-pointers.
Also in double figures today were
Tony Osburn (13) and
JJ White (10).
Team Stats
Omaha narrowly outshot the Bison 43.7% (31-for-71) to 41.8% (23-for-5), as well as having a larger edge from behind the arc at 42.9% (12-for-28) to 38.2% (13-for-34). NDSU just barely managed to beat the Mavericks in free throws at 70.0% (21-for-30) to 68.8% (11-for-16).
What proved to be the difference maker for Omaha was its ability to hold on to the ball, turning it over just five times vs. 10 times for the Bison. This led to a 13 to 6 advantage in points off turnovers.
The Mavericks were also the superior rebounding team with 39 boards to 36.
Inside the First Half
Just like in Grand Forks, Omaha came out of the gate strong today with Osburn quickly draining a three to open up scoring 18 seconds in. After layups from White and Sutton, Osburn made another from deep at 17:14 to put the Mavericks up 10-3. Osburn would later follow up Sutton's second basket of the half with back-to-back jumpers at 13:18 and 12:46 to reach double figures and make it 16-10.
Inside of 10 minutes left, Sutton's long-awaited moment came after he grabbed the offensive board and contorted himself directly below the net to make the second-chance layup and secure his place in the record books. Though NDSU fought back soon after and took the lead, baskets from Waddles, along with fellow ex-Bison
Joshua Streit, kept Omaha within one at the end of the period.
Inside the Second Half
A wild beginning of second half would set the tone for the rest of the day as the lead ended up changing five times in the first two minutes. The Bison would go on to play their best basketball of the day over the next few minutes, eventually going up by 12 at 59-47 at the 12-minute mark. It did not take long for momentum to shift back in Omaha's favor as the Mavericks went on a 15-2 run that saw
Ja'Sean Glover put up seven points and Sutton another six.
With NDSU holding on to a slim 66-62 lead with just over six minutes left, Waddles suddenly went on an all-time tear. From 6:10-3:43, the former Bison did something few have done before as he scored five straight three-pointers on five straight Omaha possessions to silence to crowd and put the Mavericks back in front 77-70. While the Bison did give it one last shot to retake the lead, four free throws in a row from Waddles in the final 16 seconds would put the game away for good.
Game Notes
- Sutton is closing in on his next major milestone as he ended the night with 493 career rebounds. Once he reaches 500, he will be the 22nd Maverick to reach that mark, as well as the 15th all-time and just the fourth to only play in the D1 era to have 1000 points and 500 boards. Marquel is also just three field goals away from reaching 400.
- Waddles blew past his previous career single-season high in points as he ended the day with 168, 10 more than what he had last year with NDSU.
- Osburn is just 11 points away from becoming the second Maverick this year to cross 200 points. On a similar note, with another steal today he is now the first Maverick this year to top 20 steals.
Up Next
The Mavericks are back home next Wednesday for a nationally televised showdown with Kansas City at 8 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.
