A game-high 27 points from Omaha's Frankie Fidler helped UNO to an 80-72 win over South Dakota Thursday night at Baxter Arena.
The win helped the Mavericks snap two losing streaks at once. Omaha had lost nine straight coming into tonight's game and had dropped the last seven games to South Dakota in the series. The Mavericks improved to 8-20 (4-12 Summit) on the year while the Coyotes lost their third straight game and fell to 11-16 (6-9 Summit) this season.
Four Coyotes scored in double-figures led by
Kruz Perrott-Hunt's 16 points. Perrott-Hunt went 5-of-10 from the field and 4-of-7 from behind the three-point line.
Tasos Kamateros and
A.J. Plitzuweit had 12 points each. Kamateros added a team-high seven rebounds and five assists on the night as well.
Max Burchill had a career-high 12 points off the bench in 22 minutes. Burchill was a perfect 4-of-4 from the floor including two three-pointers. He also sank both of his free-throw attempts. South Dakota shot 45.5 percent from the floor and 42.3 percent from the three-point line in the game.
The score was tied 39-39 at the break as both teams were shooting the ball well. South Dakota shot 51.6 percent in the first half while Omaha shot exactly 50 percent. The Coyotes led by as much as six just under the midway point of the half after a three-pointer from Perrott-Hunt. That six-point advantage was the largest lead of the game for USD. Late in the half, Luke Jungers hit back-to-back threes to give Omaha a three-point lead with a minute to go. South Dakota managed to tie the game at the break off a corner three-point bucket from Perrott-Hunt as time in the first half dwindled down.
In the second half, the game continued to sway back-and-forth as both teams kept up their efficient shooting night. The pace slowed down midway through the second half and allowed Omaha to take over the game. After a pair of free-throws from Tony Osburn tied the game at 63 under eight minutes to go, Marquel Sutton hit a layup to give UNO the lead. A key moment in this game came after that as Plitzuweit picked up his fifth foul of the game with seven minutes remaining. The lead stayed in favor of the Mavericks for the remainder of the game as the Coyotes scored nine more points the rest of the way. Eight of the last 10 points for Omaha came at the free-throw line as they sealed an eight-point win over South Dakota.
After being held to four points in the previous meeting in Vermillion, Fidler scored 20-plus points for the second straight game with 27 tonight. Fidler went 10-of-15 from the field and racked up a double-double with 10 rebounds. Ja'Sean Glover and JJ White added 11 points each while Osburn had 10. Sutton had eight points and tied Fidler for a team-high 10 rebounds. The Mavericks outrebounded the Coyotes 41-26 in the game and made 13 more free-throws.
The Coyotes will travel west for the final road game of the season. South Dakota and Denver are scheduled to tip-off from Hamilton Gymnasium Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. CT.
