Late Three Sinks Mavericks at K-State, 60-58

Tuesday, December 29

Manhattan, Kan.

7 p.m.

Omaha

2-8,0-0Summit League

Kansas State

5-5,1-1Big 12

Team	1	2	F
Omaha	30	28	58
Kansas St.	32	28	60

Ayo Akinwole led all scorers with a season-high 19 points Tuesday night at Kansas State.

Photo by: Scott Weaver

Late Three Sinks Mavericks at K-State, 60-58

Dec 29, 2020 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

MANHATTAN, Kan. -- The Omaha men's basketball team hung with Kansas State all night but came up short after a late game-winning three, falling 60-58 Tuesday night at Bramlage Coliseum. The loss closes the Mavericks' non-conference slate at 2-8, while K-State improves to 5-5.

Leaders for Omaha
Ayo Akinwole led the Maverick effort with a season-high 19 points, as the senior stepped up to hit 7-of-9 from the field with three 3-pointers.

Sam'i Roe broke out for a season-high scoring output of his own with 12 points on a trio of first-half threes.

Marlon Ruffin and Marco Smith each added six points. Wanjang Tut pulled down a team-leading nine rebounds to tie his career high, and Darrius Hughes grabbed eight more, which set a career mark for the sophomore.

Leaders for K-State
Mike McGuirl finished with 13 points and a game-high six assists to lead K-State, while Selton Miguel hit three 3-pointers -- including the game-winner -- en route to 11 points.

DaJuan Gordon and Davion Bradford had 10 rebounds apiece.

Team Stats
Omaha shot 40% (20-of-50) to K-State's 39% (24-of-62.

The Wildcats had a 39-35 rebounding advantage and finished with 11 steals for the night.

Inside the First Half
A 15-3 run -- courtesy of six different Mavericks scoring in a six-minute span -- gave Omaha a 20-13 edge by the under-8 timeout.

Omaha twice went up by as many as 11 in the opening half thanks to back-to-back threes from Roe, who finished the first half with 11 points.

But the Mavericks were held without a field goal for nearly five minutes to end the half, and a 14-1 run over 4:37 helped K-State to a 32-30 lead at the break.

Inside the Second Half
K-State opened the second half 4-of-5 from the field, but Akinwole canned consecutive threes to keep it within reach at 40-37. The Wildcats surged to an eight-point advantage before back-to-back triples from Ruffin and La'Mel Robinson put Omaha on an 8-0 run that locked the game at 45-45.

An Akinwole jumper gave Omaha the lead once more at 49-48 with just under eight minutes to play, and it remained a one-possession game from there.

With Omaha trailing by one after a missed Wildcat free throw, Akinwole was fouled by Gordon on a dribble-drive. The senior captain hit a pair at the line to put Omaha up 58-57 with 17 seconds left.

But Miguel's corner three out of a Maverick timeout put K-State up for good, 60-58, with nine seconds remaining. Roe launched one final look from deep, which bounced off the rim at the buzzer.

Noting Tonight's Game
-The Mavericks have dropped their last two games by a combined six points.
-Omaha tied its season high with eight 3-pointers as a team.
-Wanjang Tut has matched his career high for rebounds with nine boards in each of the last two games at Wyoming and K-State.

Up Next
Omaha opens Summit League play on Saturday, Jan. 2, welcoming Oral Roberts to Baxter Arena with an adjusted tipoff of 4 p.m. Gary Sharp and Kyler Erickson will have the radio call on 1180 Zone 2, and links to live video, audio and stats will be available on OMavs.com.