OMAHA, Neb. - The Mavericks opened the second half of the conference slate tonight with a 78-69 win over Denver to sweep the season series.
Omaha will remain in first place in the Summit League at 8-1 with a 14-10 overall record, topping last season's conference win total and one win short of tying last season's overall win total. As for the Pioneers, they fall to 2-7 with an 8-16 mark on the season.
Leaders for Omaha
For the fourth game in a row,
Marquel Sutton topped 20 points as he finished the night with 22.
JJ White edged him out by a single point as both of them each shot 8-for-13 (.615) from the field. Sutton also led the team with seven rebounds, while White was first in assists with three.
Isaac Ondekane also had his fourth game of the season with double-digit points as he finished with 10.
Team Stats
Omaha took two of three shooting categories tonight, besting Denver in FG% at .489 (23-for-47) to .452 (28-for-62) while taking a huge lead in free throw shooting at .824 on 28-of-34 to .600 on just 6-of-10. The Pioneers did have a superior 3-PT FG% at .292 (7-for-24) to .222 (4-for-18).
Once again the Mavericks were the top rebounding team at 33 to 27
Inside the First Half
A bucket from Ondekane 15 seconds in gave Omaha an early lead which it held for much of the half. Sutton and White would each log five points over the next sixth minutes as the Mavericks lead soon grew to 14-6. A 9-2 Pioneer run would make it a one-point game by the midway point of the half with Omaha narrowly in front 16-15.
After Denver's basket at 11:13 brought them within one, neither team would score from the field over the next four minutes as four free throws from
Lance Waddles and
Kamryn Thomas were all either team would get. Denver's Pedro Lopez Sanvicente would break the scoreless streak at 7:20 to cut Omaha's lead to 20-17. The Pioneers would go one to score another five unanswered to take their first lead of the night at 22-20 with 5:34 remaining.
Thomas would put the Mavericks back on top with his first three of the night at 4:28, followed by two more from the charity stripe to make it 25-22 with under four minutes to go. Denver would tie it at 25-25 at 2:49, only for another three from White and a pair of free throws from
Tony Osburn to keep it a one-point lead for Omaha at the end of the half
Inside the Second Half
Both teams went back and forth through the opening minutes of the second as the score ended up tied four times, before the Mavericks once again pulled ahead by one at 41-40 at 15:41. The Pioneers would score 11 of the next 16 to take their largest lead of the night at 51-46, but Omaha immediately responded with an 11-2 run that saw six points from Sutton and five from Glover to make it 57-53 with nine minutes left.
Denver would keep within five points of Omaha for the next few minutes, until Sutton made it 69-61 with the and-one at 4:25. White would add an and-one of his own with 90 seconds remaining to grow the lead to nine and ultimately put the game out of reach.
Game Notes
- Sutton moves up one spot on the all-time scoring list to 23rd as he finished the game with 1149 career points. He also ends the night with 543 career rebounds, moving him up to 16th place.
- Marquel has also blown past his previous single-season high of 406 points set last year as he now has 423 on the season.
- White now has exactly 300 points this year, putting him just five away from setting a new personal best.
Up Next
The homestand continues next week when the Fighting Hawks and Bison come to town. First up is North Dakota on Thursday, February 6 at 7 p.m., followed by North Dakota State on Saturday at 1 p.m.
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