Omaha men's basketball falls to Abilene Christian

By Matt Kirkle, Contributor

(OMAHA, Neb.)—Omaha’s turnover problems and three-point struggles in their victory on Thanksgiving carried over to Saturday morning as the Mavericks fell at the hands of Abilene Christian, rounding out their showing at the Gulf Coast Showcase.

The Wildcats blistered from behind the arc through their first two games of the season, and Clay Gayman leads that charge, shooting 83% from long range going into Saturday’s game. Abilene Christian made three of their first four 3’s of the game, two coming from Gayman, as the Wildcats jumped out to an early 13-4 lead. On top of that, Omaha’s offensive production was slow out of the gate, shooting just 38% from the floor and tacking on five turnovers—resulting in nine Abilene Christian points going into the under-12 media timeout. At the 9:15 mark in the first half, Omaha had gone on a five-minute scoring drought and trailed 19-8.

Then the roles reversed.

Omaha spouted off a quick 10-0 run over the next 1:45, making four of their five shots during that stretch. All the while, after starting 50% from the floor in the first 11:00 of the game, Abilene Christian proceeded to only make two of their next 11 shots, and went 6:35 without making a basket from the floor. Zach Thornhill and Matt Pile guided the Maverick offense in the first half, neither missing a shot from the floor.

True freshman guard from Omaha Westside, Jadin Booth, checked into the game for Omaha with 8:59 left in the first half after logging only two minutes in the previous two games. The two-time All-Nebraska selection wasn’t expected to log many minutes this early in the season, but he remained in the game for the rest of the half. He dished three assists and scored his first points as a Maverick by knocking down a three-pointer to give Omaha the lead with 4:25 left in the 1st half. Coryon Mason finished a layup with 12 seconds left to tie the game at 28 before the halftime intermission.

Coming out of the break, Abilene Christian still struggled to find the bottom of the net. They began the game shooting 6-of-12 from the floor, but proceeded to only make six of their next 23 shots into the early stages of the second half. They trailed the Mavs by four at the first media timeout. Then the potent Wildcat offense, averaging 75 points per game in their first two contests, began tracking some momentum.

They would go on a 15-1 run over the next 5:03, due in part to six Maverick turnovers in the opening 8:30 of the half (to the Wildcats zero), and took a 47-37 lead. Abilene Christian found their rhythm offensively, and took advantage of Omaha’s 2-of-14 performance from behind the arc. The Wildcats were shooting 34% as a team going into first media timeout of the second half, and finished the rest of the game at a 61% clip. The Wildcats were also the beneficiaries of Maverick foul trouble in the frontcourt, as Pile and Wanjang Tut both had four fouls with 10:00 remaining in the game. Both would foul out before the end of the contest.

Omaha had multiple scoring droughts in the second half surpassing 4:00 of game clock, helping build momentum for Abilene Christian. Tut made a layup with 9:10 left in the game to bring the Wildcat lead to just 51-45, but that would be the closest Omaha would draw the rest of the way. Abilene Christian immediately rattled off a quick 8-0 to give them the largest lead of the game at 14 points, and barely fell off of that pace for the remainder of the game. The Wildcats won 70-58 to finish a perfect 3-0 in the Gulf Coast Showcase.

Thornhill was the leading scorer for Omaha, tallying 13 points on 6-of-7 from the floor, and Marlon Ruffin added 11. Kolton Kohl led the way for Abilene Christian with 15 points, followed by Gayman with 14. Omaha surpassed 20 turnovers for the second straight game, and is shooting just 18% from three-point range through three games. The Mavericks take on No. 11 Creighton on Tuesday at 4 p.m., the first matchup between the crosstown schools in 25 years.