BROOKINGS, S.D. - Omaha Men's Basketball erased a double-digit deficit in the first half but couldn't do the same in the second half as the Mavericks fell 84-69 at South Dakota State in the Summit League opener Thursday night.
Paul Djobet scored 17 of his 22 points in the second half to lead Omaha, while
Julian Margrave provided a boost off the bench with 14 first-half points.
Margrave, who was plus-5 for the game, hit four of Omaha's nine 3-pointers on the day, but it was around the basket where South Dakota State (8-8, 1-0 Summit) hurt Omaha (7-9, 0-1 Summit). The Jackrabbits held a 52-29 rebounding edge and a 52-24 advantage on points in the paint.
Omaha head coach
Chris Crutchfield said he liked his team's fight in the first half, but ultimately too many second-chance opportunities for SDSU were too much to overcome.
Omaha had slow starts to begin both halves as South Dakota State led nearly the entire way.
Omaha missed seven of its first eight 3-point attempts in the first half, allowing South Dakota State to push its lead to 24-14 midway through the first half.
Then Margrave found the range, hitting four 3-pointers in a three-minute span. That turned a 26-22 deficit into a 34-32 Omaha lead with two minutes left in the first half.
Margrave added a layup in the closing seconds as the Mavericks went into halftime with a 36-36 tie.
Thirteen of South Dakota State's 14 first-half field goals were in the paint. Then SDSU hit three triples in the opening minutes of the second half to trigger a 13-0 run and a 49-36 lead.
Omaha hit just four of 20 from the field in the first 12 minutes of the second half. The Mavericks did pull within 63-58 with 6:30 left on a Djobet 3-pointer, but that's as close as they got.
Freshman
Brock Scholl was the only other Mav in double figures with 10 points and seven rebounds, while
Lance Waddles had nine points, six rebounds and five assists.
Damon Wilkinson, a 6-foot-10 sophomore, finished with 24 points and 19 rebounds for SDSU. He had 15 points and 13 rebounds by halftime.
Omaha returns home to Baxter Arena to play Kansas City at 7 p.m. CT Saturday to kickoff a 3-game homestand. Tickets are on sale now at
OMavs.com/Tickets or call 402-554-MAVS.
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