OMAHA, Neb. - In the first ever nationally broadcasted game hosted in Baxter Arena, the Mavericks faced the No. 1 ranked team in the Summit League Preseason Poll and kept their record perfect in 2025 as they took down a Kansas City 77-58.
Omaha is now one of just two undefeated Summit League teams left in conference play along with St. Thomas at 3-0, as well as getting back to .500 for the first time since November 14 at 9-9. As for the Roos, they suffer their first conference loss to drop to 2-1 while moving to 10-8 overall. This is the first time since the 2019-20 season that the Mavericks have started conference play 3-0 and is tied for the second longest streak behind the 2015-16 squad's 4-0 start.
Leaders for Omaha
Omaha had four players in double digits tonight, led by
JJ White and
Lance Waddles with 17 each. Both shot 6-for-10, with White also leading the team with four assists.
Behind them was
Kamryn Thomas with 14 points and a team-high .857 FG% (6-for-7).
Tony Osburn rounded out the group with 12 points.
Defensively,
Joshua Streit had one of his best games yet, leading the Mavericks with seven rebounds.
Marquel Sutton was right behind him with five boards.
Team Stats
Omaha shot above 50% for the fourth time this season as they bested the Roos 51.9% (28-for-54) to 35.3% (18-for-51). The Mavericks also had a large lead in 3-PT% at 36.4% (8-for-22) to 19.0% (4-for-21), though, Kansas City had a slightly better FT% at 78.3% (18-for-23) to 72.2% (13-for-18).
Ball control was another strength of the Mavericks tonight as they recorded seven steals and turned it over just nine times vs. 12 for the Roos. This led to 14 points off turnovers for Omaha, while Kansas City only had two.
In addition to this Omaha out-rebounded Kansas City 34 to 30.
Inside the First Half
It was as close as it gets for much of the opening half, with Kansas City striking first only for Omaha to come back and tie it six times over through the first nine minutes. Sutton provided an early spark for Omaha when he tied it up 8-8 at 14:34 with a towering dunk. Later on, Osburn would score the next seven points for the Mavericks, capped off with his first three-pointer to give Omaha its first lead of the day at 17-14 with 10:14 to play.
Inside of 10 minutes, back-to-back buckets from Waddles and Sutton grew the lead to 21-14. With seven minutes left, Thomas came up with the second dunk of the half for Omaha as he caught the Roos out of sync and walked it in to make it 23-18. Sutton continued to power through the paint as he threw down two more dunks in the half to send Omaha to the locker room up 33-25.
Inside the Second Half
The Mavericks' lead quickly grew to 37-25 to start the second half after an opening layup from
Isaac Ondekane followed by the second dunk of the night from Thomas at 18:38. A three from White at 17:02 would be the last points Omaha would score for the next four minutes as the Roos scored seven straight to cut the lead to eight.
After the Roos fought back to get within five with 11:35 left, Omaha went on a 13-0 scoring run that included eight points from Thomas to grow the Mavericks' lead to 54-36 with just over eight minutes remaining. Ondekane, who capped off the 13-0 run, would make it a 20-point game a minute later. From there, Omaha easily held on to their lead as the Mavericks cruised to the victory.
Game Notes
- Sutton finished the night with five rebounds, putting him two short of 500. 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.
- With four field goals today, Marquel also reached 400 exactly in his career.
- Osburn cleared 200 points on the season tonight, taking only 16 games to do so vs. 26 last year.
Up Next
The Mavericks finish the first home week of conference play this Saturday at 1 p.m. when South Dakota State comes to town.
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