SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - The #1 Omaha Mavericks are moving on to the Semifinal round after opening their time in the Summit League Championship with a commanding 70-61 victory over the #8 Kansas City Roos.
Omaha has now reached 20 wins for the second time in the Division I era and is just one win away from tying the 2018-19 team's record of 21 wins.
Leaders for Omaha
Marquel Sutton turned in his 10th career double-double after leading the team with 28 points and 11 rebounds while shooting 10-for-18. He also had a team-high four steals. In the process, he topped 600 points on the season, becoming the sixth Maverick in history to do so and ending the night in fourth place on the single season scoring list with 610 points.
JJ White (14 points),
Isaac Ondekane (10), and
Ja'Sean Glover (10) were all in double figures as well, with White recording a team-high seven assists.
Team Stats
Omaha was the better team from the floor today, shooting 46.3% (25-for-54) vs. 32.8% (20-for-61), but was actually bested by Kansas City 36.0% (9-for-25) to 31.3% (5-for-16) on three-pointers and 70.6% (12-for-17) to 68.2% (15-for-22) on free throws.
Both teams were tied with 37 rebounds apiece and each had nine turnovers.
Inside the First Half
Ondekane got things started with a bucket and a block on back-to-back plays in the opening minute to quickly put Omaha ahead. Seven minutes in and thanks to five points each from Ondekane, Sutton, and White, Omaha was holding on to a 15-10 lead. With the Roos later cutting the lead to 17-14 at 12:06, the Mavericks blanked them over the next four minutes while getting another five points from White to make it 22-14 with just over eight minutes to play.
With seven minutes remaining
Lance Waddles would score the first Mavericks points of the game from someone other than White, Sutton, and Ondekane with a layup to make it 26-18. Inside of four minutes left in the half, Glover drained his first three to give Omaha its largest lead yet at 33-20, before converting on a Kansas City turnover to make it a 15-point game as part of a 13-2 Maverick run. A three-pointer from Sutton and two from the line from White would be enough to keep the lead in double digits as Omaha ended the half up 40-26.
Inside the Second Half
After five straight points to open the half and make it a 19-point game, the Mavericks saw their lead fall back into single digits by the 16-minute mark as the Roos went on a 10-0 scoring run to make it 45-36. The lead would later shrink to just seven with 12:47 remaining, but thanks to buckets from Waddles and Sutton Omaha would go back up 51-40 with under 12 to play.
The Mavericks would maintain a double-digit lead for much of the final 10 minutes. From 10:00-5:00, Omaha's defense held Kansas City to just five points as the team took a 61-47 lead. Inside of five, though, the Roos made one last push as they once again got the deficit down to seven with 1:11 on the clock. With 49 seconds to go, though, Waddles came up big with the dagger as he iced the game with a three.
Game Notes
- Sutton ended the night with 1336 points, climbing to 13th place on the all-time scoring list.
- White climbed to eighth on the all-time assists leaderboard with 347.
Up Next
The Mavericks move on to the Semifinal round on Saturday when they will face the winner of the Friday's Quarterfinal between #4 North Dakota State and #5 South Dakota at 7 p.m.
