Sioux Falls, South Dakota--The Mavericks were awaiting their game at the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls at 8:30 p.m. As the team got loose and waited for their warm-ups to start, they watched top-seeded and reigning Summit League Tournament champions, South Dakota State, take on what Seth Davis would’ve “sharpied” as a win against Western Illinois in the opening game of the tournament. The Jackrabbits beat the Leathernecks by 20 points just seven days earlier.
As the final seconds dwindled down, along with the Jackrabbits free-throw percentage in the clutch, South Dakota State watched what was said to be Mike Daum’s last “hoorah” in the NCAA tournament, end with the most shocking upset in Summit League tournament history. March had just claimed another victim, and Jon Rothstein was somewhere on Twitter losing his marbles. The Leathernecks took advantage of a rare cold-shooting first half from South Dakota State, by shooting 43% from three in the opening period and never looked back. They stumbled for sure, but never looked back. Every fan, including the exclusive Western Illinois fans that found a way to steal a seat from Jackrabbit fans, was in disbelief.
The Mavericks looked on, and fully understood the gravity of that moment. The atmosphere of the tournament dramatically shifted the moment the buzzer sounded, and the door for the Summit League crown was blown wide-open.
Omaha followed one of the craziest opening games in recent conference tournament history, and took on seventh-seeded North Dakota. The Fighting Hawks finished the regular season winning three of their final four games.
In an unlikely turn of events, the Mavericks bench was the one of the biggest components in their gritty first-round win.
Omaha fans never felt comfortable throughout the entirety of the game, despite leading from the 16:07 mark of the first half until the end of the game. The Maverick lead only reached double-digit’s for just a few possessions. It seemed every time the Mavs would start to pull away, North Dakota would find a way to bring it back to a possession or two.
Wanjang Tut was the storyline of the game. Tut, who played double-digit minutes in only three of Omaha’s final 16 games of the regular season, came off of the bench and finished with a career-high 18 points and six rebounds on a 70% clip from the floor. He did his work in just 20 minutes.
His role was necessary, too. Especially considering Matt Pile sat the last 8:30 of the first half because of foul trouble, and then found himself with four fouls just over halfway through the second half. Pile’s 18 minutes played was the lowest for him since their exhibition game against Buena Vista in November. Tut didn’t flinch filling in those big shoes.
Pile came back from sitting in the first half and made an instant impact to open the second half. His play brought the Maverick lead back up to 10; but the Fighting Hawks, specifically Marlon Stewart, would not go away.
Stewart was the offensive anchor. Even with 5:30 left in the game, and the Mavs with a 74-65 lead, Stewart proceeded to lead North Dakota on an 11-3 run where Stewart scored nine of his teams’ 11 points to bring the Fighting Hawks back within one with just over a minute to play.
North Dakota’s leading scorer, Cortez Seales, only scored eight points in the game on 36% from the field, requiring Stewart to fill that void in the offense. He did just that, finishing with a career-high 26 points while the pick-and-roll offense consistently ran through him. He kept answering with both shots at the rim and with passes to his teammates.
A Tut layup brought the Omaha lead to 79-76 with 0:16 left, and North Dakota had one last shot to send the top-two seeds home on the opening-night.
On the final North Dakota possession, Stewart had an open reverse-layup opportunity altered by Zach Jackson, and after getting his own offensive rebound, he turned the ball over to Mitch Hahn who was fouled and threw the final counterpunch to bring the heavyweight prize fight of a game to an end with two free throws. Omaha escaped with a win, and did what good teams do in March—survive and advance.
Jackson led the way for Omaha with 21 points. Mitch Hahn added 14 points, and Pile added 12. The Mavericks now await the winner of Purdue Fort Wayne and South Dakota tonight at 8:30 p.m.
