SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Top-seeded North Dakota State scored the first 11 points and never looked back in a 74-50 semifinal victory over (5) Omaha at the Summit League men's basketball tournament on Saturday night.
Fifth-seeded Omaha, which was looking to repeat as tournament champion, ends its season at 16-17.
Omaha lost three times to North Dakota State (26-7) this season. The losses in the regular season were by single digits, but NDSU led by double digits most of the way Saturday.
The Bison never allowed the Mavericks to get on track offensively. Omaha, which averaged 76.8 points during the season, shot 30 percent (15 of 50) from the field, including 4 of 26 from beyond the arc. Omaha missed all 10 of its 3-point attempts before halftime.
North Dakota State also controlled the interior as it outrebounded Omaha 43-28 and outscored the Mavericks 36-16 in the paint.
And North Dakota State made sure the Mavericks were playing catch-up from the start.
The Bison scored on their first three possessions and were up 13-2 four minutes into the game. At that point, NDSU was 6 of 7 from the field and had forced Omaha into four turnovers.
Omaha was within 20-12 after a Kamryn Thomas basket with 10 minutes left in the first half, but that's as close as the Mavericks got the rest of the way.
Omaha trailed 40-25 at halftime, and the Mavericks made a push to start the second half. Paul Djobet scored seven points in the first two minutes of the half to cut NDSU's lead to 43-32.
But Omaha then went through another scoring drought as the Mavericks were outscored 15-3 over nearly the next 10 minutes.
Ja'Sean Glover scored a team-high 13 points, which included 11 free throws, and grabbed six rebounds, while Djobet had 11 points. No other Maverick scored in double figures.
Among the seniors who closed their Omaha careers were Tony Osburn, who finished with 221 3-pointers as a Maverick, and Lance Waddles, who scored 1,001 points in his college career.
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