KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Mavericks closed out their time on the road this season with a massive 78-66 victory over Kansas City to snap a two-game skid and to bring them back into first place in the Summit League.
Omaha is now 17-12 on the year and 11-3 in Summit League play, putting the team two wins behind the 2018-19 squad for the most conference wins in the Division I era. With two games left, the Mavericks can also end the season with 19 total wins which would be the second most in the D1 era behind the 2018-19 team's 21 wins. One more win would tie the team with the 2015-16 and 2016-17 squads for second place on the list. The Mavericks also end the season with a 7-9 road record, tying them with the 2015-16 team for the third most road wins in the program's Division I history.
This also marked the team's first ever win in the Swinney Center.
Meanwhile, the Roos drop to 11-17 with a 3-10 conference record on the year. St. Thomas also lost tonight, thus allowing the Mavericks to retake first place.
Leaders for Omaha
Marquel Sutton had his third straight game scoring over 20 points as he led the team with 22 points shooting 8-for-14 (.571) from the field and 3-for-3 from deep.
JJ White also put up 20 points, reaching that mark for the fifth time this season. White also tied his season high in steals tonight as he and
Tony Osburn each had three.
Also having a standout night was
Isaac Ondekane, who returned to the starting lineup and scored nine while pulling down a team-high five rebounds.
Team Stats
Omaha was just under 50% on shooting on the day as they topped the Roos 49.2% (29-for-59) to 45.5% (25-for-55). Kansas City did post a better 3-PT FG% at 42.1% (8-for-19) vs. 38.1% (8-for-21), but the Mavericks were better at the line at 70.6% (12-for-17) to 66.7% (8-for-12).
Omaha was actually beat in rebounding 32 to 27, but was much better in ball handling with nine steals and seven turnovers vs. KC's five steals and 14 turnovers.
Inside the First Half
It was a low-scoring first half dominated by strong defense from both teams. Omaha initially came out to a 9-3 lead four minutes in on buckets from four different Mavericks. After a two and a half minute scoring drought for both teams, the Roos would go on to outscore Omaha 13-5 to take a 16-14 lead with just under 10 minutes to play.
Ja'Sean Glover quickly retied the game at 16-16, before the teams traded points until it was 21-21 with 5:28 to go. The final five minutes would be all Omaha, though, as the Mavericks outscored the Roos 12-2 with Glover adding another bucket and two from the line, while White notched his third of the night from behind the arc and Sutton his first to make it 33-23.
All told, neither team shot above 40% from the field in the half as both squads combined for 23 defensive rebounds. Kansas City would get an impressive six blocks, while Omaha recorded seven steals on 10 KC turnovers.
Inside the Second Half
Omaha continued its momentum from the end of the first into the second as the team took a 15-point lead just over 10 minutes into the half. Sutton provided the bulk of the scoring, adding another 13 points with six coming from behind the arc. Ondekane also scored six more points, including the first bucket of the period 40 seconds in.
The Mavericks did not let up over the final 10 minutes as White scored 11 of Omaha's next 21 points to all but guarantee the team's victory.
Game Notes
- White made significant progress towards reaching 1000 career points as ends the night with 945. With two regular season games left an at least one Summit League Tournament game it will be extremely close.
- Now at 526 points on the year, Sutton climbs all the way from 21st on the single-season scoring list to 16th all-time.
Up Next
With the road slate wrapped up, Omaha closes out the season with one final homestand beginning this Saturday at 7 p.m. when they face South Dakota; the only team in the Summit League they have not defeated this year.
