SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - The #1 Omaha Mavericks are going to the Summit League Championship Final for the third time in program history after routing #5 South Dakota 100-75 tonight. Previously, only the 2016-17 and 2018-19 teams had made it to the Final.
The 2024-25 team has now tied the 2018-19 team for the most wins in the program's most wins in the Division I era with 21.
Leaders for Omaha
Tony Osburn had his best game of the season, leading the team with 30 points as he went 9-for-11 with 8-of-9 from behind the arc. His eight treys are not one behind his program record that he set last season, but are the most ever in the Summit League Tournament.
Also in double figures were
Marquel Sutton with 19 points and
JJ White with 14. Sutton was also the team leader with eight rebounds, while White led the team in assists with six. He also passed a major career milestone with his first bucket to become the 45th Mavericks in history and 11th in to play exclusively in the Division I era to join the 1000-Point Club alongside Sutton.
Team Stats
Omaha shot a season-high 58.7% (37-for-63) from the field tonight vs. just 34.8% (23-for-66) for USD. The Mavericks also topped the Coyotes in 3-PT FG% at 37.5% (9-for-24) to 31/3% (10-for-32) and FT% at 70.8% (17-for-24) to 65.5% (19-for-29).
Omaha also had a huge lead in rebounds at 43 to 32 and was vastly superior in the paint at 54 to 22.
Inside the First Half
From the start it was all Omaha tonight. After an opening bucket from
Isaac Ondekane 18 seconds in, the Mavericks never trailed for the entire game as they soon grew the lead to double digits on White's 1000th career point at 15:47 to make it 14-4. The lead only grew from there as Omaha soon went on a 15-0 run from 10:15-7:02 that saw Osburn make his third and fourth three-pointers of the night to make it 38-11.
After the Coyotes finally ended the run with a couple of free throws, Omaha wasted no time getting right back to scoring as a free throw from Osburn soon made it a 30-point game with under five to play. The lead reached its peak in the half at 4:08 after
Grant Stubblefield made the and-one to make it 46-13. Ultimately, the Mavericks would end the half with an astounding 55-26 lead after shooting 65.6% (21-for-32) from the field.
Inside the Second Half
Omaha started off the second with an 8-0 scoring run, capped off by back-to-back dunks from Sutton to make it 63-26. White got the lead to a game high of 38 with a trey at 16:08. Osburn would continue to do damage from deep as he made three more by 12:15 to bring his total to eight.
It would take until 3:17 for South Dakota to get the lead back under 30. In the waning minutes, Omaha emptied the bench and got a bucket from
Sebastian Perry at 2:42, before
Lincoln Palbicki came in to make it official as he made a layup under the basket to get the Mavericks to 100.
Game Notes
- Sutton ends the night in 11th place on the all-time scoring list with 1355 points and ninth on the all-time field goals list with 517.
- This is the first time the Mavericks scored 100 in a game since November 27, 2023, vs. York when they scored 104.
Up Next
The Mavericks will face either #2 St. Thomas or #6 North Dakota in tomorrow's Championship Final at 8 p.m. Should the Tommies emerge victorious over the Fighting Hawks tonight they will be guaranteed the automatic qualifier to the NCAA Tournament due to St. Thomas being ineligible for postseason play and thus giving the berth to the Regular Season Champions instead.
