OMAHA, Neb. – In a game where Omaha shot 55.1 percent from the floor and 47.6 percent from deep to go with only five turnovers, North Dakota fell 98-82 inside Baxter Arena on Thursday night.
Matt Norman worked his way back into the starting lineup and led UND (4-11, 0-2 SL) with 20 points for his second 20-point game at North Dakota. He also dished out two assists and accounted for one steal.
Tsotne Tsartsidze was next in double figures for the kelly green and white with 13 points and four rebounds.
Ethan Igbanugo chipped in 11 points and six boards, while
Brady Danielson netted a season-high 10 points and cleaned the glass with a team-high seven rebounds.
The Mavs chased
Paul Bruns all night and held him to eight points and five boards.
Brian Mathews also finished with eight points, while
Bentiu Panoam and
Mitchell Sueker each added in six points apiece.
Six players for Omaha (3-12, 2-2 SL) scored double-digits and the Mavs were led by Grant Frickenstein pouring in 16.
In the game, the Mavericks finished 38-69 from the field for 55.1 percent, highlighted by 62.5 percent shooting in the first half. Omaha also hit 10 triples and finished 12-for-15 at the line for 80.0 percent free throw shooting. Comparatively, North Dakota went 30-for-68 from the field for 44.1 percent and hit seven shots from deep.
North Dakota won the rebounding battle by a 40-37 margin and outscored Omaha in the paint, 42-40. Despite the advantages down low, the Mavericks only turned the ball over five times in the entire game, while forcing 11 Hawk turnovers.
The Fighting Hawks trailed 12-10 at the first media timeout and Sueker, returning from injury, had the first four points for UND. North Dakota would reclaim the lead at 13-12 after a Bruns triple with 14:40 left in the opening half. With his triple, Bruns has now hit at least one three in each of the last 10 games.
Unfortunately, it would be North Dakota's final lead of the game, with the Mavs going on an 11-3 run over the next four minutes to reclaim the lead at 23-16 midway through the opening period.
Omaha built its lead up to 48-38 with 2:27 left before intermission and was hitting 62.1 percent of its shots. At intermission, the Mavs led 52-40 and were shooting 62.5 percent from the floor. Comparatively, the Hawks were shooting 44.1 percent from the field with Norman leading the team with 10 points.
The Mavericks went on an 8-0 run to open the second half and never looked back, seeing their lead balloon to 33 points (85-52) with 9:56 left and shooting an even 65.0 percent. The Hawks finished the game on an 11-0 run over the final 2:35, powered by Norman netting six points and Igbanugo throwing in five points, but it was not enough as Omaha came away with the 98-82 victory.
North Dakota will now turn its attention to Denver, with the Hawks and Pioneers set to square off at 3 p.m. (CT) inside Hamilton Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.
