OMAHAomaha MEN'Smen's BASKETBALLbasketball 2019-20 GAME NOTES For Immediate Release: Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2020 • Contact: Bonnie Ryan • Email: [email protected] • Office: (402) 554-3267 • Cell: (402) 679-2912 /OmahaMBB @OmahaMBB @OmahaMBB OMavs.com 2019-20 SCHEDULE & RESULTS OMAHA HITS THE ROAD FOR ORAL ROBERTS Date Opponent Time (CT) Nov. 5 at Wichita State L, 68-54 OMAHA MAVERICKS Statistical Leaders Nov. 7 Midland W, 72-53 Record: 12-13 (5-5 Summit League) Scoring: KJ Robinson -- 15.3 ppg Nov. 11 Bethune-Cookman W, 90-61 Head Coach: Derrin Hansen Rebounding: Matt Pile -- 10.2 rpg Nov. 13 at Colorado State L, 80-65 Record at School: 239-212 (15th Year) Assists: Ayo Akinwole -- 3.0 apg Nov. 19 at Dayton L, 93-68 Career Record: Same Steals: JT Gibson -- 1.0 spg Last Game: L, 81-64 at SDSU (2/8) Blocks: Matt Pile -- 1.5 bpg Nov. 21 at Washington State W, 85-77 Nov. 25 Southern W, 78-51 ORAL ROBERTS GOLDEN EAGLES All-Time Series: ORU leads 9-4 Nov. 26 Loyola (Md.) W, 70-65 Record: 12-12 (5-6 Summit League) Last Meeting: Dec. 1 at Saint Mary’s L, 75-66 Head Coach: Paul Mills Omaha won 74-67 in Omaha, Neb. (1/4/20) Dec. 3 at Arkansas State L, 78-73 Record at School: 34-54 (3rd Year) Dec. 8 at Northern Arizona L, 73-65 Career Record: Same Dec. 11 at #14/15 Arizona L, 49-99 Last Game: L, 83-76 at NDSU (2/8) Dec. 15 UTRGV W, 92-82 Dec. 17 at Eastern Washington L, 97-56 THIS WEEK’S SCHEDULE Dec. 21 Montana W, 87-82 (OT) Wednesday, Feb. 12 • OMAHA at ORAL ROBERTS • 7 p.m. • Mabee Center -- Tulsa, Okla. Dec. 29 South Dakota State* W, 81-78 Stats: OMavs.com • Video: OMavs.com • Audio: OMavs.com • TV: ESPN3 • Radio: 1180 Zone 2 Jan. 4 Oral Roberts* W, 74-67 Sunday, Feb. 16 • OMAHA vs. DENVER (Senior Day) • 4:30 p.m. • Baxter Arena -- Omaha, Neb. Jan. 8 at North Dakota* W, 66-62 Stats: OMavs.com • Video: OMavs.com • Audio: OMavs.com • TV: None • Radio: 1180 Zone 2 Jan. 11 at South Dakota* L, 91-81 Jan. 18 at Denver* L, 91-76 The Basics Jan. 23 Western Illinois W, 87-82 (OT) The Omaha men's basketball team visits Oral Roberts this Wednesday, Feb. 12, with tipoff set for 7 p.m. at the Jan. 25 Purdue Fort Wayne* W, 75-71 Mabee Center in Tulsa, Okla. Gary Sharp will have the radio call on 1180 Zone 2, and links to live video, audio and stats Feb. 2 South Dakota* L, 81-80 will be available on OMavs.com. Feb. 5 North Dakota State* L, 86-78 Feb. 8 at South Dakota State* L, 81-64 Quick Hits • KJ Robinson hit the 1,000 points plateau last Saturday at South Dakota State, joining fellow senior JT Gibson as a Feb. 12 at Oral Roberts* 7 p.m. member of the 1,000 Point Club. Feb. 16 Denver* 4:30 p.m. • The Mavericks lead the Summit League in average home attendance, which is also their best of the Division I era. Feb. 20 at Purdue Fort Wayne* 6 p.m. • Omaha started 3-0 in Summit League play and was the last undefeated team in the conference until falling at South Feb. 22 at Western Illinois* 2 p.m. Dakota on Jan. 11, which ended its season-long four-game win streak. Feb. 26 North Dakota* 7 p.m. • According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index, Omaha is 121st for strength of schedule -- the highest of any league team. Feb. 29 at North Dakota State* 4 p.m. • Omaha was picked fourth in the Summit League's preseason poll, and Matt Pile and JT Gibson were both second- March 7-10 at Summit League Championship TBA team Preseason All-Summit picks. * - Summit League game • All home games listed in bold • The Mavericks had a 3.14 semester GPA as a team in the fall semester. It marked their third straight semester with a italics and played at Baxter Arena GPA of 3.0 or higher. • The 2019-20 season is the 107th overall in program history and the ninth of the Mavericks' Division I era. All-time, the program is 1,193-1,199. • JT Gibson, KJ Robinson, Ayo Akinwole and Matt Pile will serve as first-time team captains this season. MEDIA AVAILABILITY OMAHA PROBABLE STARTERS Student-athletes and coaches are available for interviews No. Player Pos. Cl. Ht. Wt. PPG RPG APG SPG BPG after practice or by arrangement through the Omaha 5 KJ Robinson G Sr. 6-1 190 15.3 2.2 2.5 1.0 0.0 athletic communications office. All men’s basketball 4 Zach Thornhill G So. 6-4 185 8.6 3.6 1.8 0.7 0.2 interview requests must be arranged through Bonnie 0 JT Gibson G Sr. 6-3 195 13.6 2.7 2.4 1.1 0.0 Ryan of the athletic communications staff at least one 13 Wanjang Tut F So. 6-8 205 6.2 4.5 0.6 0.5 0.8 day in advance. 40 Matt Pile F Jr. 6-8 240 12.4 10.2 1.6 0.5 1.5 2 / / / 2019-20 OMAHA MEN’S BASKETBALL WHEN REFERRING TO THE MAVERICKS 2019-20 OMAHA MEN’S BASKETBALL ROSTER As part of a university-wide rebranding effort that began # Name Cl. Pos. Ht. Wt. Hometown (High School/Previous School(s)) in 2011, host institutions, media and fans are reminded 0 JT Gibson Sr. G 6-3 195 Brooklyn Park, Minn. (Champlin Park) to refer to the school as the “University of Nebraska 2 Darrius Hughes Fr. G/F 6-7 230 Kansas City, Mo. (Rockhurst) Omaha,” “Omaha” or “UNO.” “Nebraska Omaha” and 3 Kyle Luedtke RFr. G 6-5 190 Omaha, Neb. (Creighton Prep) “Nebraska-Omaha” are no longer acceptable references. 4 Zach Thornhill So. G 6-4 185 Lenexa, Kan. (St. James Academy) 5 KJ Robinson Sr. G 6-0 190 Blue Springs, Mo. (Blue Springs South) 10 Ayo Akinwole Jr. G 6-0 165 Papillion, Neb. (Papillion-La Vista) 11 La’Mel Robinson Fr. G 6-0 160 Riverside, Mo. (Park Hill South) 13 Wanjang Tut So. F 6-8 205 Omaha, Neb. (Omaha Burke/The Skill Factory Prep) 15 Grant Frickenstein Fr. G 6-3 170 Fremont, Neb. (Archbishop Bergan) Primary Logo Secondary Logo 20 Hayden Miller So. G 6-1 180 Nebraska City, Neb. (Lourdes Central Catholic) 22 Marco Smith So G 6-2 175 Kansas City, Kan. (Washington/UMKC) USA TODAY COACHES TOP 25 POLL 23 Marlon Ruffin So. G/F 6-5 195 Madison, Wis. (Sun Prairie/Highland CC) 24 Nathan Brusseau Fr. C 6-11 225 New Prague, Minn. (New Prague) Released Feb. 10, 2020 40 Matt Pile Jr. F 6-8 240 Wichita, Kan. (Eisenhower) School Record Last Week Head Coach: Derrin Hansen (15th Year) • Assistant Coaches: Pat Eberhart (9th Year), Tyler Erwin (11th Year), 1. Baylor .................................21-1 ............................... 1 Tyler Bullock (4th Year) • Director of Men’s Basketball Operations: Jake Koch (2nd Year) 2. Gonzaga .............................25-1 ............................... 2 3. Kansas ................................20-3 ............................... 3 PRONUNCIATION GUIDE 4. San Diego State ..................24-0 ............................... 4 Ayo Akinwole: EYE-oh AH-kin-WOH-lay • Nathan Brusseau: broo-SOH • Pat Eberhart: EBB-er-heart 5. Louisville ............................21-3 ............................... 5 Darrius Hughes: DAIR-ee-us • Kyle Luedtke: LOOT-key • La'Mel Robinson: luh-MEL • Marlon Ruffin: RUFF-in 6. Dayton ............................21-2 .............................6 Wanjang Tut: WAN-yang TUT 7. Duke ...................................20-3 ............................... 7 8. Florida State .......................20-3 ............................... 8 9. Maryland ............................19-4 ............................... 9 Scouting the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles 10. Seton Hall .........................18-5 ............................. 13 Oral Roberts has a record of 12-12 (5-6 Summit League) after an 83-76 defeat at North Dakota State last Saturday 11. Auburn .............................21-2 ............................. 10 for its second straight loss. Deondre Burns (26) and Kevin Obanor (20) combined for 46 points, and Max Abmas added 12. Kentucky ..........................18-5 ............................. 16 another 17. 13. Penn State ........................18-5 ............................. 20 ORU was picked third in the Summit League's preseason poll. Obanor and Emmanuel Nzekwesi were both first- 14. West Virginia ....................18-5 ............................. 11 team Preseason All-Summit selections. 15. Colorado ...........................19-5 ............................. 24 Head coach Paul Mills is in his third season in Tulsa with a career record of 34-54. 16. Villanova ..........................17-6 ............................. 12 17. Iowa .................................17-7 ............................. 17 All-Time Against Oral Roberts 18. Oregon .............................18-6 ............................. 15 Wednesday marks the 14th meeting between Omaha and Oral Roberts, with the Golden Eagles leading the all-time 19. Houston ............................19-5 ............................. 25 series 9-4, including 7-4 in the Mavericks' Division I era. ORU had won four straight in the series before Omaha won the 20. Butler ...............................18-6 ............................. 19 most recent meeting, 74-67, on Jan. 4 at Baxter Arena. 21. Creighton .........................18-6 ............................. 22 ORU has a 4-1 advantage against Omaha in Tulsa since rejoining the Summit League in 2014-15. 22. Marquette ........................17-6 .............................NR 23. Illinois ..............................16-7 ............................. 21 Last Time Out: Robinson Reaches 1,000 Career Points As Omaha Falls at SDSU 24. Texas Tech .........................15-8 .............................NR Omaha celebrated KJ Robinson reaching the 1,000 career points milestone Saturday afternoon but fell 81-64 to 25. Michigan State .................16-8 ............................. 14 South Dakota State at Frost Arena. Robinson, who became the 41st 1,000-point scorer in program history, led the Receiving Votes: LSU, Arizona, Ohio State, Northern Mavericks with 20 points, hitting three 3-pointers and going 7-of-8 at the line.