SWSiouxMN Posted February 17, 2021 Posted February 17, 2021 UND put together their most successful weekend of the season, sweeping the Summit Leading Yotes in their final home series of the year. Now UND looks to finish their season on a high note About Omaha: After coming off another solid season where the Mavs finished in the top half of the league, things might have been looking up for the Mavs as a program. Despite losing their two top guards, they still had some nice pieces coming back and with a wide open league behind SDSU, thoughts where that hey... Mavs might finish again in the top half, maybe sneak into the top 3. Well... not so much. This has been a disaster of a season. In a weird way, it didn't seem like it would. They had an okay showing in non-conference, almost knocking off Wyoming and Kansas State. When conference play came... it was not nice. It didn't help that Zach Thornhill has been out for most of the season, a guard that they were counting on in the rotation. It hasn't helped that COVID bit them and lost two games and didn't play for 3 weeks. It also didn't help that their best guard, Marlon Ruffin, took a scary fall against WIU and suffered a head injury (he missed the KC series and we will see if he plays against UND). All of this can add up to no conference wins so far with two weeks left in the conference season. 4 chances left to try and avoid the worst case scenario: Missing Sioux Falls Is there hope for Omaha? Well yes. They have their "Fixer" this weekend. For whatever reason, Omaha has had UNDs number. UND has lost 12 straight against Omaha and several in painstaking fashion. Yes... the infamous choke job happened against Omaha, the CIT disaster with Huff and company, Tut in Sioux Falls in UNDs first year, and the two close losses last year. If there is one team that can get them to avoid their fate, its this one. If that doesn't work, well they get Denver next week that basically is a play-in. About Derrin Hansen (16th season, 243-232 overall, 61-63 Summit) The longtime Mavs coach is going through his worst season as a head coach. He has been with Omaha for 23 years, 7 of them as an assistant and 16 years as head coach. He has been through the old NCC, the MIAA, the D1 transition, and the Summit League. He has had a couple of top 3 finishes in the league so far and a couple of trips to the Summit League Finals, but hasn't gotten Omaha to the promise land. I fully expect that coach Hansen will get Omaha back up and running next year, but I am sure he doesn't want his season to be over in two weeks and miss Sioux Falls. Series History: While UND leads the all time series (54-42). UND has a 11 game losing streak against Omaha that dates back to January 2007.... They have never beaten Omaha in D1 history (0-7) Key Player: Matt Pile (6'8 240 Forward Senior) The big for Omaha continues to be a bright spot in a long trying year for the squad. He continues to pound the boards and is nearly averaging another double-double. He definitely makes his living down low and his size will give Rebraca trouble. Given the fact that UND hasn't rebounded very well in this new lineup is also cause for concern. This is a guy who can grab 20 rebounds if you are not careful with him (I saw it first hand last year at the Summit Tournament). Get him in foul trouble early and keep him off of the boards. What UND is playing for: UND can complete a winning conference season with 2 wins. Their first in the Summit and their first since the 2016-17 season (when they went 14-4 in the BSC) Finishing at 9-7 means that UND will be no worse than 6th in the conference (a lot to be played out in the two weeks) but could go as high as 3rd if it breaks a certain way. Most likely, 9-7 will be good enough for the 5th spot. Other Games: ORU (8-4) @ USD (9-3): The first of two heavyweight matchups takes us to Vermillion as the Yotes take on ORU. USD is coming off being swept by UND and is on a 3 game skid. ORU is coming off a split at home against SDSU. Hard to say who needs it more. USD has 4 home game left and if they can defend the home court, that should be enough to get the top seed. However, they got lit up from 3 by UND and Abmas is licking his chops. Also, Obanor can bang with the USD bigs. Two ORU wins puts them in a real nice spot to win the league, especially with a winnable series against WIU left. Abmas and Obanor vs AJ and Umude? I wouldn't be shocked if someone dropped 40. SDSU (6-2) @ NDSU (9-3): The other heavyweight matchup is up in Fargo as NDSU and SDSU renew their rivalry. SDSU is coming off a split down in Tulsa while NDSU was enjoying their BYE in more ways that one (they have to have loved what happened in Tulsa and Grand Forks last weekend). A sweep in either direction will keep their conference title hopes alive and that all important Saturday games (and the day of rest). Freidel didn't play in the Saturday game at ORU due to coaches decision and Hendo stated it was personal reasons and didn't state whether he will play this weekend in Fargo. That is a big story going into the weekend. DU (1-9) @ KC (5-5): While not as big as the other two games, this has some significant implications on its own. For DU, they could punch their ticket to Sioux Falls with a sweep and UND sweeping Omaha, making that last series moot. Kansas City could climb to as high as the 4 seed if they can sweep DU and ORU gets swept in Vermillion. DU is coming off being swept in Western Illinois, not being able to build off of their momentum against UND. Kansas City took care of business against Omaha and moved to .500. We shall see how DU can handle the KC pressure. Off: WIU (5-7) My how things change in a couple of weeks. WIU head into their BYE week on a 5 game winning streak and went from battling teams in the basement to now having a shot at the 5 seed if things break correctly. They also have a shot to finish at .500 for the first time since 2012-13. Jeter has them playing well and has found a rotation. They will not be an easy out in Sioux Falls. The Call: You know the drill already: UND has beaten Omaha in a long... long... long time. They were so close last year but didn't get it done. UND has a lot to play for still, but Omaha is going to be desperate. UND needs to be prepared to handle it, the last two times they played a desperate team, they didn't respond. UND needs to keep Pile off of the boards, keep Tut from having a Tut game against them, and keep Ruffin in check. If UND can play similar to what they did against USD, they should come away with a win. If they bring DU, it is going to be close. I see another good team effort from UND and get their 8th win of the conference season UND 82-74 Omaha has a free stream on their website MBB vs. North Dakota - University of Nebraska Omaha Athletics (omavs.com) Quote
SWSiouxMN Posted February 20, 2021 Author Posted February 20, 2021 Usual 5 tonight for UND Ihenacho Panoam Igbanugo Sims Rebraca Quote
SWSiouxMN Posted February 20, 2021 Author Posted February 20, 2021 Holy Crap! Omaha is down to 6 scholarship players No Tut or Ruffin tonight Quote
SWSiouxMN Posted February 20, 2021 Author Posted February 20, 2021 UND needs to be ready right out of the block to deal with Omaha. Don't let them get any confidence Quote
SWSiouxMN Posted February 20, 2021 Author Posted February 20, 2021 Pile is going to be limited apparently because he tweaked his ankle. They just said Omaha has 5 players out for the season that were in their regular rotation. Quote
SWSiouxMN Posted February 20, 2021 Author Posted February 20, 2021 Sims got yanked to the bench after he threw the ball out of bounds. Quote
SWSiouxMN Posted February 20, 2021 Author Posted February 20, 2021 UND needs time 9-5 Mavs Offense looks sloppy. Quote
SWSiouxMN Posted February 20, 2021 Author Posted February 20, 2021 Uffda both teams with some sloppy play Media 9-5 Mavs 15:56 1st Quote
terbele Posted February 20, 2021 Posted February 20, 2021 anyone understand how to use the omaha stream? Quote
SWSiouxMN Posted February 20, 2021 Author Posted February 20, 2021 Just now, terbele said: anyone understand how to use the omaha stream? You should be able to just click on the link and it will take you there. Quote
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