The Omaha Mavericks head to Arena-Auditorium to take on the Wyoming Cowboys. The game gets underway at 2:00 pm ET on Saturday, Dec. 19.
The Cowboys edged New Mexico State 62-59 in their last game. Josh Adams led all scorers on the team with 22 points on 8-for-17 shooting. The Mavericks are coming off an 81-71 win over Simpson in their last outing. Jake White had a good game, recording 17 points and 11 rebounds to claim his third double-double of the season.
Devin Patterson has been on fire over the last five games for the Mavericks, averaging 20.4 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.4 steals, and 2.4 three-pointers.
The aggressive Wyoming offense seems poised to dominate from the foul line. It ranks 14th in the nation with a FTA rate of 48.1, while Omaha is among the nation’s most foul-prone squads (giving up a 267th-ranked FTA rate of 40.6). It will also be a tale of two tempos, as the up-tempo Mavericks are ranked second in possessions per game, with the half-court-oriented Cowboys at 310th.
Wyoming is a four-point favorite in this game and the Over/Under (O/U) is 154 points. The Cowboys enter the game with records of 6-4 Straight Up (SU) and 4-2 Against The Spread (ATS). Wyoming is excellent from the perimeter with 93 three-pointers made (9.0 per game), the 36th-most in the country. Expect Wyoming to have lots of opportunities at the line against the Mavericks, who are one of the most foul-prone teams in the nation with an average of 22.5 fouls per game.
Across the court, the Mavericks head into the game with records of 4-3 ATS and 6-5 SU. The Mavericks rank sixth in the country in scoring, averaging 88.6 points per game. The Mavericks are shooting lights out from the foul line so far, with a .737 free throw percentage that ranks 47th in Division I. Omaha is one of the better rebounding teams in Division I. The Mavericks average 41.4 rebounds per game, making them the 44th-best team in the country for that category. Switching gears to the Omaha defense, it averages 9.9 steals per game, good for 10th in the nation.
Wyoming and Omaha have not played one another in a regular season matchup in recent years.
Predictions: SU Winner – NEOma, ATS Winner – NEOma, O/U – Over
Notes
Wyoming is 21-4 SU in its last 25 games at home.
Omaha is one of the top-scoring teams on the road, averaging 93.8 points per game (ranked second). Wyoming, on the other hand, allows 67.8 points per home game (ranked 193rd).
Wyoming has an average field goal percentage of 46.7%. Omaha is an even 2-2 when opponents have a similar or higher field goal percentage.
The Wyoming Cowboys rank lower for their field goal percentage (74th) than they do for their effective field goal percentage (31st), but the Omaha Mavericks have a better FG% ranking (94th) than eFG% ranking (145th).
Wyoming ranks 99th in the nation with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.21. Omaha is ranked lower at 191st with an A/TO of 1.02.
Wyoming ranks 351st in offensive rebounds, while Omaha ranks 51st in defensive rebounds.
The Omaha Mavericks rank 10th in steals this season, with an average of 9.9 per game. When the Wyoming Cowboys give up at least 9 steals, they have a winning 2-1 record.
