Wednesday, January 3
Omaha, Neb.
7:05 p.m.
Omaha
vs
Northern Arizona
Photo by: Marisa Dawson
Mavericks Ring in the New Year With the Big Sky-Summit Challenge vs. NAU
Jan 2, 2024 | Men's Basketball
The Basics
The Mavericks begin 2024 with the first game of the Big Sky-Summit Challenge when they host Northern Arizona this Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Gary Sharp will have the call on 1290 KOIL and links to live stats, audio, and video can be found at OMavs.com.
Quick Hits
Scouting the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks
After beginning the season 2-5, the Lumberjacks won four straight games in early December to get above .500, only to end the month with back-to-back losses to San Francisco and Northern Colorado (their conference opener) to come into the Big Sky-Summit Challenge at 6-7 (0-1).
NAU's top offensive threat is junior guard Trent McLaughlin, who leads the team's five 100-point scorers with 206 points (15.8 ppg), good for third in the Big Sky. Much of his success has come on the deep ball, going 31-for-81 (.383) on three-pointers, while his 75 field goals also lead the team, as do his 20 steals.
Defensively, junior forward Carson Basham paces the Lumberjacks in rebounds (66 total, 5.1 rpg) and 16 blocks, the latter being the fourth most in the conference.Â
After joining the program as an assistant coach in 2018 and serving as interim head coach the next season, Head Coach Shane Burcar is in his fourth season officially leading the Lumberjacks. Prior to becoming a college coach he served as the head coach of Mesa High School's men's basketball team for 12 years.
All-Time Against Northern Arizona
Omaha is still looking for its first win against NAU as the Mavericks currently sit at 0-3 in the series. The last two losses have both come in the D1 era, most recently with a 73-65 defeat on December 8, 2019.
The Mavericks begin 2024 with the first game of the Big Sky-Summit Challenge when they host Northern Arizona this Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Gary Sharp will have the call on 1290 KOIL and links to live stats, audio, and video can be found at OMavs.com.
Quick Hits
- The Mavericks closed out 2023 on a high note as they took on the South Dakota Coyotes in Vermillion and led for the entire game en route to a 67-51 victory, moving them to 7-8 on the year and 1-1 in the conference.
- This was marked Omaha's first road win of the season and was also the first time the Mavericks have won a game this year in which they were outrebounded (45 to 34). Offensively, Omaha held the edge in FG% (41.4% to 32.7%), 3-PT FG% (26.3 to 22.2), and FT% (87.5% to 50.0%).
- Omaha's aggressive play at USD paid off to the tune of 14 fastbreak points (vs. just four for the Coyotes) and 14 points off turnovers (vs. six).
- Frankie Fidler topped 20 points in a game for the fifth time this year after leading the way with 27 points on eight field goals and nine free throws. He only needed six minutes to reach double-digits and already had 19 by the end of the first half. Fidler now has 1102 career points, tying him with KJ Robinson (2016-19) 25th on the program's all-time scoring list. Robinson was the last Maverick before Fidler to join the 1000 point club.
- Marquel Sutton had his 25th career double-digit scoring game on Sunday as he went 5-for-11 with three from the line to finish with 13 points. JJ White also reached double digits with 11 points on the day.
- Nick Davis and Tony Osburn both headed up the defensive efforts for Omaha, with Davis having his fourth multi-block game of the season with two, and Osburn setting a new career-high with eight total rebounds.
- Grant Stubblefield, Marcel Bryant, Nick Davis, and Biko Johnson are Omaha's top newcomers coming into this season.Â
- Stubblefield was named 6A Player of the Year and First Team All-State while at Blue Valley Northwest and Bryant was named the Austin Area Player of the Year at Cedar Ridge. Johnson is coming off his second season at Western Nebraska CC where he was named All-Conference and All-Nebraska, while Davis is fresh off winning GAC Defensive Player of the Year and a trip to the Sweet 16 of the Division II NCAA Tournament with Southern Nazarene.Â
- Fidler was Omaha's lone All-Summit honoree last season, earning an Honorable Mention. He led Omaha in scoring (14.7 ppg), rebounding (5.8 rpg), steals (1.2 spg), and free throw percentage (.887), with his FT% in particular ranking in the NCAA's top-25 for most of the season.
- Head Coach Chris Crutchfield has a 26-40 career record. It marks his third season as a head coach and second with the Mavericks.
Scouting the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks
After beginning the season 2-5, the Lumberjacks won four straight games in early December to get above .500, only to end the month with back-to-back losses to San Francisco and Northern Colorado (their conference opener) to come into the Big Sky-Summit Challenge at 6-7 (0-1).
NAU's top offensive threat is junior guard Trent McLaughlin, who leads the team's five 100-point scorers with 206 points (15.8 ppg), good for third in the Big Sky. Much of his success has come on the deep ball, going 31-for-81 (.383) on three-pointers, while his 75 field goals also lead the team, as do his 20 steals.
Defensively, junior forward Carson Basham paces the Lumberjacks in rebounds (66 total, 5.1 rpg) and 16 blocks, the latter being the fourth most in the conference.Â
After joining the program as an assistant coach in 2018 and serving as interim head coach the next season, Head Coach Shane Burcar is in his fourth season officially leading the Lumberjacks. Prior to becoming a college coach he served as the head coach of Mesa High School's men's basketball team for 12 years.
All-Time Against Northern Arizona
Omaha is still looking for its first win against NAU as the Mavericks currently sit at 0-3 in the series. The last two losses have both come in the D1 era, most recently with a 73-65 defeat on December 8, 2019.
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