The Basics
In another showdown between the Summit League's top two teams, the Mavericks will close out the week against St. Thomas on Saturday at 7 p.m. in a game that holds huge weight towards deciding the Regular Season Title.

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
• Omaha began its final road trip of the regular season on Thursday with just its second loss of conference play as they were bested 98-85 on the road against South Dakota State who remains undefeated at home in league play.
• The game was close heading into halftime, as the Mavericks went on a 10-0 run - their longest of the day - which was capped off by a mid-court steal and an uncontested bucket from Tony Osburn to make a three-point game heading into the locker room.
• Osburn was tied with Marquel Sutton for the team lead in points on Thursday with 20 each. For Osburn, this was his second 20-point game in a row and fifth overall this year as he topped 300 points in a single season for the first time in his career.
• As for Sutton, he topped 1200 career points and moved into 19th all-time with 1210. He is also 16 points away from reaching 500 in his career for the first time, which would make him the eighth Maverick in the Division I era to do so.
• JJ White is also closing in on a major milestone as he finished Thursday's game with exactly 925 career points. With four regular season games and at least one Summit League Tournament game left, White still has a chance of joining the 1000 Point Club by season's end.
• For the second time this year, Omaha earned votes in the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 poll to begin the week, this time getting 41 votes and ranking 28th overall. Four teams in the Summit League are currently receiving votes in the poll, led by St Thomas with 95 and ranking 24th overall and with SDSU (34) and NDSU (11) behind the Mavericks. 
• With 10 conference wins and four regular season games remaining, the Mavericks still have a chance to tie or beat the 2018-19 team's program record for Summit League victories of 13.
• 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 50-61 career record. This season marks his fourth year as a head coach and third with the Mavericks.

Scouting the St. Thomas Tommies
Still directly behind Omaha in the standings, St. Thomas enters this game with a full week of rest after beating Denver 79-76 last Saturday. The Tommies currently boast the best scoring margin in the conference at +9.1 ppg.

St. Thomas still has four players averaging at least 11 ppg as Miles Barnstable (14.7 ppg, 382 total), Drake Dobbs (12.1, 314), Kendall Blue (11.9, 309), and Nolan Minessale (11.2, 291) all remain in the league's top 25 in scoring. Each one of these four also leads the team in at least one other category, with Barnstable first in FT% at .867 (104-for-120), Dobbs being first in 3-PT FG% at .468 (36-for-77) and assists with a league-leading 98, Blue leading the way in rebounding with 4.2 rpg and 110 total, and Minessale with a .566 FG% (112-for-198), 29 steals, and a league-best 28 blocks.

Head Coach Johnny Tauer led the Tommies over their final decade of Division III competition, winning the 2016 National Championship and making seven total Tournament appearances. A 2001 St. Thomas Athletic Hall of Fame inductee following his playing career, Tauer has since amassed a 286-104 record as the program's head coach.

All-Time Against St. Thomas
For the second year in a row, the Mavericks beat St. Thomas at home to begin the season series as they improved to 2-5 in the all-time series. Five Mavericks scored in double figures that game, led by Sutton with 24 points to go with his nine rebounds. Meanwhile Kendall Blue paced the Tommies with 18 points and nine boards.