OMAHA, Neb. - For the first time in program history, the Mavericks are Summit League Regular Season Champions. With their 93-85 win over South Dakota tonight and St. Thomas' loss to Oral Roberts, Omaha is guaranteed at least a share of the title.
The team did this in front of a record crowd of 4283 fans; the most ever for a non-kids day game.
With one game left to play, the Mavericks are now 18-12 with a 12-3 conference record. One more win would give the team its second highest win total in the Division I era behind the 2018-19 team's 21 wins. Likewise, the 2024-25 Mavericks can also tie that squad's 13 Summit League wins for the most all-time. As for the Coyotes, they drop to 17-12 with an 8-6 conference record to put them in fifth place.
Leaders for Omaha
Marquel Sutton had the best game of his career tonight, scoring a career single-game high 36 points while tying his single-game FGM total with 14 (14-for-20). He also pulled down 12 rebounds for his ninth career double-double.
JJ White also had an excellent night, scoring 22 while shooting 4-for-9 from behind the arc and dishing out seven assists.
Lance Waddles was effective as well, scoring 14 while recording six rebounds and three assists.
Team Stats
Omaha was once again just below 50% on FG% as the Mavericks bested USD .492 (32-for-65) to .422 (27-for-64). Omaha was also better from behind the arc at .300 (6-for-20) vs. .276 (8-for-29). The Coyotes were better at the line, though, at .821 (23-for-28) to .697 (23-for-33). Omaha did most of its damage tonight from short, totaling 50 points in the paint vs. 36 for USD.
The Mavericks had a huge lead in rebounding at 44 to 35.
Inside the First Half
After a close first couple of minutes, Sutton put the Mavericks ahead for good at 15:57 when he went up the middle for a dunk to make it 8-6. From there, Omaha laid it on, soon going up 20-10 with under 12 to play thanks to six more points from Sutton. This came as part of a larger 10-0 run capped off by the first bucket of the day from
Kamryn Thomas to grow the lead to 26-10 with nine and a half remaining.
Threes from White and Waddles would keep the lead above 15 points heading into the final five minutes. With just under two and a half left, though, the Coyotes went on their best run of the night, outscoring Omaha 9-2 as they managed to send it to halftime with the Mavericks leading by nine.
Of Omaha's 44 points in the first half, 12 came from the line as the team shot 12-for-12, while another 26 came in the paint.
Inside the Second Half
Omaha came out strong in the second half, with White seven straight in the first two minutes, before Sutton made it a 10-0 run with an and-one. The lead would later grow to 21 points with 14:33 on the clock when
Joshua Streit threw down a dunk off the inbound from White.
Sutton would get a dunk of his own with 7:17 left making it 81-64 but more importantly putting him over 30 points in a single game for the first time in his career. Over the final six minutes, though, the Coyotes mounted a massive comeback, eventually getting to within four points at 85-81 with 2:25 to play. Fortunately, another bucket from Sutton followed by six more made free throws put the game out of reach.
Game Notes
- White now has 967 points in his career and also moves into ninth place on the all-time assists list with 334.
- Sutton ended the night with 562 points on the season, bringing him up to ninth place on the single-season scoring list. His 1288 career points also bring him to 16th all-time while his 588 rebounds are good for 12th place.
Up Next
There is only one game left in the regular season. The Mavericks can secure sole ownership the Regular Season Title and the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament when they host Oral Roberts next Saturday at 1 p.m. on senior day.
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