Omaha
- Feb 6, 2020
- 6 min read
Omaha Mavericks (12-11, 5-3) vs. North Dakota State Bison (16-7, 7-2)
Wednesday, February 5, 2020 @ 7:00 PM
Omaha, NE
Baxter Arena
THE SCHOOL
The University of Nebraska Omaha (UNO) is a public research university in Omaha, Nebraska. The school was founded in 1908 and became a part of the University of Nebraska system in 1968. UNO enrolls 15,431 students and has an endowment of $71.6 million.
The Mavericks compete in the Summit League in NCAA Division I. Despite the fact that everyone refers to the school as "UNO," their athletic program stylizes themselves as "Omaha." Omaha moved from Division II to Division I in 2011. When they did this, they dropped their football program (as well as their national championship-winning wrestling program). The athletic department claimed it was because of Title IX restrictions and because the Summit League does not sponsor football, but many in the state believe it's because the Nebraska Cornhuskers didn't want another D-I football team in Nebraska. (ESPN's Outside the lines wrote a story about this.)
Since the dissolution of the football program, UNO's most popular sport has been... men's hockey. Omaha has only had hockey for a little over twenty years but it's really caught on. They average the ninth-best attendance per game in all of college hockey, with an average of 5,552 fans. The Mavericks made the Frozen Four in 2015, though they have not replicated that season's success since. I've been meaning to make it to a Maverick hockey game but my schedule hasn't aligned with theirs.
North Dakota State University is a public research university in Fargo, North Dakota. The Bison also compete in the Summit League. If you know anything about North Dakota State, you probably know about their football team. (Because the Summit League doesn't sponsor the sport, their football team plays in the Missouri Valley Conference.) The Bison football team has won eight of the last nine FCS national championships. Over that time span, their overall record is 128-8. Right now, they totally dominate FCS football. Their basketball program isn't bad either; they've gone to the NCAA Tournament four times since 2009, winning a game as a #12 seed in 2014.
THE TOWN
green=my apartment, blue=my office, yellow=past games, red= this game
After work, I ran some errands to kill time before the game started. The arena is only fifteen minutes from my office, but the game didn't begin for nearly three hours. This gave me an opportunity to drive around Omaha more than I normally do. Despite it being a decently-sized city, Omaha is fairly easy to digest once you learn what the main roads are. I was even able to make my way back to the interstate from the arena without using Google Maps, which is a proud accomplishment of mine.
UNO's campus is spread throughout midtown Omaha. There seem to be two main campuses separated by a public park and a third, smaller campus to the south that contains Baxter Arena and some small athletic buildings. While I only visited the small campus on this trip, I've been to their northernmost campus for work stuff before. I like it; it has a big clock tower and lots of nice, pretty walking space.
Most of UNO's campus is located in the Aksarben neighborhood of Omaha. ("Aksarben" is "Nebraska" backwards.) Aksarben seems to be a wealthier part of the city. There's a golf course, a large shopping center, and several restaurants that are just outside my price range. It's nice but I rarely have a reason to come over here.
I assume Baxter Arena is one of the nicest arenas in the Summit League. It's only been around since 2015 and still feels rather new. While not as grand as the CHI Health Center or Pinnacle Bank Arena, it's still a large, visually appealing building. Inside, you have to go through security lines, walk upstairs, and go past several concession stands to get to your seat. Baxter Arena feels like a Division I gym, especially with its center-hung scoreboard and its wrap-around video board nearly spanning the arena's perimeter. However, you can tell it's primary purpose is hockey. There's all this empty space because hockey rinks are bigger than basketball courts and almost half the arena's seats were curtained off. They did what they could with the open space though; if you were fortunate enough to afford a courtside seat, you had access to a little bar area where you could buy drinks right by the court. While Baxter Arena feels a touch outsized for basketball, it's a cool place to visit and see a game.
THE GAME
In the week before the game, I kept searching ticket websites to get a ticket beforehand. I couldn't find one under $20 though, and I didn't want to pay that much. Instead, I went to the box office and found out you can get a general admission ticket for just $5. I made the right choice there. My ticket allowed me to sit anywhere along the baseline, so I picked a seat near the corner and had the entire row to myself. I was one of a little more than 2,000 people there.
I actually wanted to sit closer to the center of the baseline, but there was an entire elementary school music class already there, and I decided that wasn't a great place to sit. They were fun to watch; they did little chants and were clearly excited to be there. A few minutes before tipoff, they lined up and walked to the court. I quickly found out they were going to sing the national anthem. It was very sweet, but they were not good at singing.
The game was broadcast on ESPN3, so it had TV timeouts and started about six minutes late. The whole first half was tit-for-tat. Five minutes in, Omaha drew up a fantastic inbound play to get #5, KJ Robinson, a wide open three that gave the Mavericks a 9-7 lead. With ten minutes left, NDSU went ahead 17-16, before Omaha went back ahead with eight minutes left, but the Bison quickly vaulted ahead again to take a 22-21 lead with 7:20 remaining in the half. UNO went on a bit of a run and took their first two-possession lead of the game, 26-22 with five minutes before halftime. NDSU came back and kept it close for the rest of the half, and they led by two (36-34) with 3 seconds left. Omaha's #23, Marlon Ruffin, made a backcourt steal that led to a contested layup within three seconds to tie the game at 36 going into halftime.
At halftime, UNO's pep band (the Maverick Machine) took the court and played a few songs. I thought they were particularly talented and entertaining. Their show included a music professor playing a solo of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" on violin while the mascot, Durango, kept a consistent beat on cowbell. This felt like a uniquely "halftime at a small Division-I basketball game" thing to do. Also, during the under-4 media timeout, a guy made a putt from like fifty feet away to win a gift card to a golf course. Pretty cool.
Neither team was able to create much space in the first half, but North Dakota State started the second half hot. Over the first 5:30, the Bison went on a 16-6 run to take a ten-point lead (52-42). In a weird quirk of this game, Omaha did not turn the ball over until the 13:36 mark of the second half. This one turnover didn't hurt them too much as they were able to claw their way back to a three-point deficit (57-54) with twelve minutes remaining. NDSU couldn't be contained for long, however, and they retook their double-digit lead, 66-56, with 9:30 left. Then I saw something I've never seen before. The NCAA has a new rule where if a team is caught accentuating contact (i.e. flopping) twice or more, a technical foul is called on the whole team. With a little more than nine minutes remaining, North Dakota State was called out on this new rule. Omaha couldn't turn this into any momentum however, and NDSU kept their lead. With three minutes left, the Bison took their largest lead of the game, 75-64. The Mavericks tried to make it interesting after this - they got NDSU's lead down to six with twenty-nine seconds left - but it was too late. NDSU controlled the second half and came away with the victory.
Final: North Dakota State 86, Omaha 78
Creighton is obviously the biggest show in town and UNO knows this. But that doesn't mean they can't have an enjoyable experience. Compared to Creighton, the Maverick game had a much more laid-back atmosphere while still providing an entertaining time. I'd love to go back to an Omaha basketball game if I get the chance.
Next up: The University of Nebraska at Kearney
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