The Basics
With history already made and the program already having secured a share of the Summit League Regular Season Title, the Mavericks will look to claim the title and the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament outright as they host Oral Roberts this Saturday at 1 p.m. in the regular season finale. 

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
• With a little help from ORU who upset St. Thomas last week, all Omaha had to do was beat South Dakota to be guaranteed a piece of the title, and they did just that, beating the Coyotes 93-85. 
• The Mavericks won the title in front of a record crowd of 4283, the most ever in attendance for an Omaha men's basketball game (excluding kids day games). 
• With the win, Omaha now has 18 wins on the season, tying the team for the second most wins in the Division I era. Similarly, the Mavericks 12 conference wins are just one behind the 2018-19 squad for the most in the team's D1 history as well.
• Omaha's 93 points in this win were also enough to leapfrog USD in the scoring rankings, ending the night in first place in the Summit League in conference play with 84.5 ppg. The team's 6.2-point scoring margin also ranks second behind only SDSU (8.3).
• Marquel Sutton had the performance of a lifetime in the most important game of his career, topping 30 points for the first time ever with 36 points on a season-high 14 field goals. One of the frontrunners for conference player of the year, Sutton also added 12 rebounds for his ninth career double-double. He ended the night with 1288 career points to bring him to 16th all-time while his 588 rebounds are good for 12th place.
• In addition to his 36 points vs. USD, Sutton's 22 points in Wednesday's win over Kansas City earned him his second Summit League Peak Performer of the Week award. 
• JJ White had another great game as well, scoring 22 and totaling seven assists as he moves to 967 career points and 334 career assists, good for ninth all-time.
• This Saturday will also be Senior Day in Omaha, as Sutton, White, and Joshua Streit will all be honored before the game.
• Omaha earned votes in the College Insider Mid-Major Poll for the third time this year this week, earning 14 votes.
• 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 52-62 career record. This season marks his fourth year as a head coach and third with the Mavericks.

Scouting the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles
The Golden Eagles came up with a huge win last week when they bested St. Thomas 71-66 to not only claim their third win of conference play, but with the Tommies' loss they guaranteed Omaha at least a share of the Regular Season Title. Following that huge upset ORU fell to SDSU on Thursday to move to 7-21 on the season and 3-12 in league play.

Graduate student guard Issac McBride has scored almost as many points as ORU's next two highest scorers combined with 547 (19.5 ppg), ranking him fourth in the league. Among qualified players, he leads the team and ranks in the top 10 in the Summit League with a .447 FG%, .402 3-PT FG%, and .849 FT%. On top of this he paces the team with 28 steals and 72 assists. McBride also has 14 games with at least 20 points, including his 44-point effort against NDSU back on January 9.

Guards JoJo Moore and Jalen Miller are ORU's next top scorers with 293 and 257 points, respectively. Moore's .496 FG% is the best on the team among players with at least 100 attempts, while Millers .458 3-PT FG% is also the team's best for players with at least 50 attempts. Moore is also second on the team in rebounding (117 total, 4.5 rpg) behind senior forward Sam Alajiki (120 total, 6.0 rpg).

Second-year head coach Russell Springmann has been with ORU since the 2018-19 season as an assistant and helped the Golden Eagles reach the Sweet 16 back in the 2020-21 season. Prior to ORU, Springmann spent a season with the Oklahoma City Thunder and 14 with Texas, where he helped lead the Longhorns to 13 NCAA Tournament appearances. In his first year leading ORU he went 12-19.

All-Time Against Oral Roberts
Omaha took the first meeting this year 84-76 to move to 6-18 against ORU. This was the final win of the Mavericks' nine-game win streak. JJ White scored a career high 35 points this game followed by Marquel Sutton with 21. As for the Golden Eagles, Issac McBride led the way with 20 points, while JoJo Moore was second with 18.