OMAHA, Neb. - Omaha Men's Basketball (7-10, 0-2 Summit) is on milestone watch as the Mavericks welcome North Dakota and North Dakota State to Baxter Arena this week as Summit League play continues. Omaha faces the Fighting Hawks at 7 p.m. CT on Thursday, Jan. 8 and the Bison on Saturday, Jan. 10 at 1 p.m. CT. Both games will air on the Summit League Network and Gary Sharp has the call on 1290 KOIL and the Varsity Network.

Last time out, Omaha trailed Kansas City by single digits for nearly the entire second half as the Roos held off the Mavericks for a 73-66 win at Baxter Arena on Saturday night. The loss snapped a nine-game winning streak in home conference games for the Mavs. It was the first road trip of the season for Kansas City (4-12, 1-1 Summit). Omaha twice cut its deficit to two points in the final six minutes, but that's as close as the Mavs got. Paul Djobet led Omaha with 16 points, eight rebounds and four assists, while Grant Stubblefield scored a career-high 14 points and had two steals. Tony Osburn had 12 points on four 3-pointers, all of which came after halftime. While Omaha was chasing the Roos after halftime, Omaha never trailed in the first 16 minutes as the Mavs led by six on three occasions.

Thursday, Omaha will wear special shooting shirts honoring Deng Mayar who tragically passed away in August. Mayar spent two seasons at North Dakota before transferring to Omaha in the offseason. The shirts read "No Rain, No Flowers," one of Mayar's slogans, and feature the state silhouettes of North Dakota and Nebraska. His family is expected to be in attendance Thursday.

The Mavericks also welcome Dean "The Dream" Thompson to Baxter Thursday night as the all-time leading scorer in program history will lead the Mavericks out of the tunnel pregame. Thompson, the all-time leading scorer in program history with 1,816 points suited up in a Maverick uniform from 1980-84.

North Dakota is off to a 2-0 start to league play with home wins over Oral Roberts and South Dakota State, the latter an overtime thriller with the Fighting Hawks closing out a 3-point victory, 90-87. Two Fighting Hawks average double figures with Greyson Uelmen averaging 12.1 points a game and Eli King averaging 10.9 a night.

North Dakota State hits the road to face Kansas City Thursday before the bout with the Mavericks. Like their in-state rival, the Bison are 2-0 in league play heading into the week.

Connect with Omaha Men's Basketball on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, @OmahaMBB.