Kenneth Pancake
CONTRIBUTOR
As the UNO women’s basketball team wraps up their road trip in search of a fourth win, the men’s team returns home from the Emerald Coast Classic with two nail-biting losses, and an earlier loss to TCU.
The men’s team traveled to Niceville, Florida, to play Tennessee Tech and Jackson State in the Emerald Coast Classic tournament over this past week, after playing their second Big 12 opponent (TCU) on Monday. They dropped all three games to fall to 0-7 on the season. The Mavericks lost to then-undefeated TCU soundly (66-99), before traveling to Florida, facing and losing to Tennessee Tech by a point on Friday (86-85). They would go on to play Jackson State on Saturday, falling in overtime by a last-second three pointer (75-73).
Leading up to the tournament, Zach Jackson was the only Maverick to score double digits in every game, averaging 16.8 points per game. Daniel Norl and Mitch Hahn also averaged double digits in scoring before the tournament, at 16.8 and 14.8 points per game, respectively. Jackson lost that streak in the Tennessee Tech game, scoring only 7 points; however, he scored 22 against Jackson State the following day. KJ Robinson would also have a fine turnout, scoring 11 points, 4 rebounds and 8 assists against TCU; a career-high 25 points with 5 rebounds, 5 assists and a block against Tennessee Tech; and 13 points, 5 assists, 2 rebounds, one block and one steal against Jackson State.
The Mavericks committed 26 turnovers to TCU, while only forcing 12. They would break even in this category against Tennessee Tech with 13 apiece, but would find themselves 8 long of Jackson State’s total on Saturday (UNO’s 18 turnovers to Jackson State’s 10).
Meanwhile, the women’s team found themselves winning their third straight game, after winning their two home openers at the Sapp Fieldhouse, to improve to 3-2. The Mavs played USC Upstate on Friday, winning by a score of 69 to 66 after being down by as much as six points at one time in the fourth quarter.
They finished their road trip at Wofford on Sunday.
Jess Walter (fresh from a two-game rest) led the team in scoring, putting up 20 points, along with 7 boards and 5 assists. Walter shot an impressive 9 of 13 from the floor. Courtney Vaccher (also shooting impressively, at 6 for 7 from the field) led the team with 11 rebounds, adding 15 points, 3 blocks and 2 steals. Ellie Brecht added a team-leading 3 steals, along with 11 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists.
The men will play their first home game at Baxter Arena on Wednesday, November 29th, facing Drake. Televised on YurView, it will be called on 1180 Zone 2 at 7pm. After the Wofford match, the women will return to Baxter Arena for a four-game home stretch beginning with Graceland on November 30th (Thursday), the local College of Saint Mary on December 3rd, Northern Iowa on December 6th, and cross-town rival Creighton on December 10th.
