Iowa Basketball: Get To Know The Omaha Mavericks
Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports
A look at the Iowa Hawkeyes opponent on Saturday, the Omaha Mavericks
It’s been a rough start to the season for Iowa basketball. They’re 3-4 with three wins over mid-majors they should beat and four losses against teams that would have helped boost their résumé come March. Now, without Tyler Cook, Iowa faces many obstacles over the next three weeks.
Iowa will be back home after two games in Florida for the Emerald Coast Classic and their first true road game against Notre Dame as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
The Hawkeyes host the Omaha Mavericks, a team that many expect them to blowout even without Cook. Omaha is also 3-4 with two losses against Power Five opponents this season. Wins over UC Santa Barbara, Buena Vista and Cal State Fullerton aren’t impressive, but they’re still important wins for a team only in its fifth season of existence.
That being said, Omaha is 2-1 in their last three games and won’t lack confidence on Saturday afternoon. They finished third in the Summit Conference at 18-14 before Denver upset them in the first round of their conference tournament.
Omaha has had a lot more success than most new programs, though. Despite never making the NCAA Tournament, Omaha finished over .500 two of four seasons and has won double-digit games every year.
It’s not a game that will garner huge headlines, but Omaha is one of the better mid-majors Iowa will face this year. The game isn’t on TV, however you can pay to watch it on BTN at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.
Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports
Derrin Hansen
Derrin Hansen has been the Omaha Mavericks’ head coach in all five seasons. It’s also Hansen’s first head coaching job, and he’s quietly made them a respectable program in the Summit Conference very quickly.
In his first four-plus seasons, Omaha is 61-70 (.466 winning percentage). They have never made the NCAA Tournament, however to win double-digit games every season is very hard for a new mid-major program. Also add in two winning seasons and Omaha is already ahead of a lot of mid-majors that have been around forever.
Omaha is coming off the best season of their program’s short history. In 2015-16, they won a program high 18 games and finished third in the Summit Conference. The Mavericks’ 10-6 conference record marks just their first winning record in conference play in school history.
Plus, it was the first time they participated in the conference tournament. Denver upset them in the first round, but they finally got a taste of postseason basketball, which will help their players develop and attract new recruits.
Omaha did lose their two leading scorers from a season ago, though. Devin Patterson and Wichita State transfer Jake White both graduated after great seasons. Landing White from a mid-major powerhouse like Wichita State is telling of how good Derrin Hansen has been early in his career.
Players To Watch
Tra-Deon Hollins: 11.1 PPG, 6.4 APG, 4.0 RPG, 3.0 SPG, 44.3 FG%
Following a stellar freshman season, Tra-Deon Hollins looks like a leader on Omaha. His game has good and bad parts, but if he’s on then Iowa could have a problem on their hand. Hollins will be a good test for new starting point guard Jordan Bohannon after facing Matt Farrell of Notre Dame earlier in the week.
Hollins is more of a traditional point guard than a scorer. He shoots just 44.3 percent from the field and 26.3 percent from three. Iowa needs to pressure the ball so he doesn’t have open passing lanes. Hollins is the only player to average more than two assists per game on Omaha, which is telling of how much their offense runs through him.
That being said, Hollins is turnover prone at times. Four turnovers per game is an extremely high mark, and he had an insurmountable nine turnovers against Eastern Michigan last week. Putting pressure on the young point guard could cause him problems, which would lead to easy fast break opportunities for Iowa.
Defensively, Hollins is one of the best at creating turnovers. Bohannon hasn’t been turnover prone this season, but he’s had problems at times. Hollins has multiple steals in all but one game this season and at least three steals four times. If Iowa protects the ball and pressures Hollins, he could become a non-factor.
Tre’Shawn Thurman: 13.9 PPG, 7.6 RPG, 1.0 BPG, 47.9 FG%
Omaha isn’t tall, which will benefit a short Iowa team. Although, Cordell Pemsl will have to try to contain Tre’Shawn Thurman, a 6-7 forward, in the paint. Thurman does most of his scoring inside, as he only shoots 9.1 percent from three. Therefore, Pemsl could be in for another post-game matchup.
However, as always, Iowa needs to contain the opposing team’s top rebounder. Memphis and Notre Dame dominated them on the glass, and Bonzie Colson grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds last game. Thurman is only averaging 7.6 rebounds per game, however he has two straight double-doubles and a 14 rebound game against USC.
He’s not going to block a lot of shots, but if Iowa doesn’t contain him in the paint then he has a chance to cause problems. He should be coming in with a lot of confidence after two straight double-doubles, which included 20 and 17 point outings, therefore Iowa can’t let him gain inside positioning on either end of the floor.
Iowa has had problems containing opposing front courts, but they can stop a good offensive team by not giving Thurman anything easy inside. After finishing third in scoring a year ago, he’s taken the role of being the team’s go-to option this year.
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