by Matt Kirkle
SIOUX FALLS, SD– In 2017, Omaha didn’t rank in the top-100 nationally in any offensive statistics. Defense was even worse, statistically having one of the worst defenses out of the 351 Division-I programs. After a 1-10 start to the regular season, the Mavs struggled to gain any traction and finished conference play with a 4-10 league record. Omaha headed to Sioux Falls on a four-game skid, and their season was put out of its misery with a 14-point loss to South Dakota in the opening round of the conference tournament. They finished the year with a 9-22 overall record.
That wasn’t all, they would lose two starters over the offseason in Daniel Norl and Lamar Wofford-Humphrey, along with three other players. The coaches of the Summit League didn’t think Omaha was going anywhere, either. They were preseason picked eighth-place in the Summit League poll.
The loss to South Dakota to close out the 2017 season was 373 days ago. In that time, the Mavericks are the most improved team in college basketball—finishing 12.5 games better than the 2017 team. They rank second nationally in offensive turnover percentage, third in steal percentage, and rank eleventh in three-point field goal percentage. Additionally, they set school records in the Division-I era for conference wins and total wins.
They went into Monday night just one win away from heading to the schools’ second Summit League championship game in three years.
Omaha let multiple double-digit leads slip away throughout the course of their Summit League semifinal against Purdue Fort Wayne, but the Mavericks held on in one of the purest college basketball finishes imaginable. A finish filled with raw hustle, fast-pace and a surplus of chaos.
The Mastodons put on an offensive showcase in their opening round win over South Dakota on Sunday. They scored 96 points and set a new Summit League tournament record in made three-pointers for a single-game (16) and set a team season-high in offensive efficiency rating (131.1). John Konchar finished with the Summit League tournament’s first triple-double, and Kason Harrell scored 21 points on 10-13 from the field. Purdue Fort Wayne looked like a completely different team in the first half of Monday’s game.
They made just 3-15 from behind the arc in the first half. Konchar had just eight points and four turnovers, and the 55% shooter from the floor was at a 37% clip at the break. Matt Holba and Matt Weir were both held scoreless.
The Mavericks showed an improvement offensively from their shooting struggles against North Dakota, but what didn’t change was Omaha’s inability to separate themselves from their opponent. The Mavericks lead by as many as twelve in the first half, and led by nine multiple times, but they couldn’t knock down the big shots that would’ve put Purdue Fort Wayne in the rear-view mirror.
The Mavericks went into the halftime with a 37-30 lead. Even with the Purdue Fort Wayne deficit, everyone in attendance knew that the Mastodons hadn’t made their last push yet.
Omaha opened the second half on a 5-0 run to jump back out to a twelve-point lead, and then Purdue Fort Wayne started to wake up.
They proceeded to go on an 8-0 run over the next 1:34, before Ayo Akinwole silenced the Mastodons with a four-point-play to get the Omaha lead back up to eight points. Omaha fought off the first wave, but Purdue Fort Wayne continued to fight back.
Holba and Weir made big plays down the stretch of the second half, and helped spark a 12-2 Mastodon run capped off by a Dylan Carl three-pointer to take a 51-50 lead with just under ten minutes to play.
The final ten minutes of the game was as raw of basketball as there could be. Both teams were filled with energy and adrenaline due to the stakes at hand, and were also trading transition runs back-and-forth. The two teams compiled a combined ten turnovers in the final ten minutes.
There were seven lead changes and two ties in the final 9:34. Neither team was able to capitalize, nor give in to the pressure of a potential championship berth.
Mitch Hahn, who continues to frequently hit last-second shots throughout Summit League play, hit a three-pointer to give the Mavericks a 61-60 lead with just over three minutes to play.
The last three minutes were just one giant blur of high intensity and frequent errors. Both teams shared uncharacteristic turnovers, Konchar at one point got the ball stuck on the rim during a put-back attempt which forced a jump-ball, and nobody scored during the entire stretch. Yeah, nobody scored.
Purdue Fort Wayne had one last possession with 15 seconds left, and decided to play it out as opposed to using a timeout to draw up a final play. The Mastodons had a few opportunities on that final possession, including a Harrell drive to the hoop that was cut off by Akinwole; but the scramble defense from the Mavericks forced Konchar to take a contested 25-footer which missed right as the buzzer sounded. The Mavericks scored a season-low 24 points in the second half, had a season-high 16 turnovers—and still survived for the second straight game to advance to the Summit League championship. Omaha is one step closer to dancing.
Hahn finished with a team-high 16 points, Zach Jackson added 12, and JT Gibson finished with 10. The Mavericks will take on fourth-seeded North Dakota State for a spot in the NCAA Tournament at 8:00 p.m tonight in Sioux Falls. Omaha won both regular season meetings with the Bison.
