Nebraska-Omaha Confident Heading into Regional

By David Boyce

Nebraska-Omaha won the MIAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, but goes into the South Central Regional as a fifth seed in the eight-team tournament.

That tells you how tough the MIAA has been this season, and it is reflected in the regional tournament. Half the tournament is made up of MIAA teams.

“It’s a great league, and we may be understating it,” Nebraska-Omaha coach Derrin Hansen said. “One through 11 it is a grind. There isn’t an easy game out there. We are playing the final three teams in the league and we have two losses against them.”

The Mavericks, though, are going into the NCAA Division II tournament in the right frame of mind after beating Washburn in the MIAA championship game.

“We have a lot of momentum going into the regional tournament, and that’s what we wanted,” Nebraska-Omaha senior guard Andrew Bridger said.

Nebraska-Omaha, 22-8, will take on No. 4 seed Tarleton State, 23-7, at 8:30 p.m. Saturday at D.L Ligon Coliseum in Wichita Falls, Texas.

Central Missouri, which won the MIAA regular-season title, is trying to regroup after an upset loss to Washburn in the quarterfinals of the MIAA Tournament.

But the body of work the Mules put together throughout the season earned them a No. 2 seed. Central Missouri, 25-3, will take on league foe Missouri Western, 18-11, at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.

The last time these two teams faced each other, Missouri Western won 55-49 in St. Joseph on Feb. 24. The Griffons helped put Central Missouri in a late-season slump.

Missouri Western is thrilled to be in the regional tournament. It’s the Griffons’ first appearance since the 2002-03 season. They will be taking on a Central Missouri team that’s trying repeat as South Central Regional champions.

The other MIAA team to make the regional is No. 3 seed Fort Hays State. The Tigers, 22-6, will play No. 6 seed Central Oklahoma, 22-6, at noon Saturday.

Nebraska-Omaha wants to build on what it started in Kansas City last week. The Mavericks appear to have everything needed to make a deep run in the Division II tournament.

They have a star in guard Tyler Bullock and dependable shooters in Bridger and Jeff Martin. They have a solid forward in Matt Newman and some size inside in Eugene Bain.

“We’ve been playing very well down the stretch,” Bridger said. “We have veteran guys who aren’t scared to shoot the ball late in the game.

“We have Jeff who is a great shooter. T Bull has shown what he can do with the ball in his hands. We just have a lot of confidence at the end of the game, and that’s really helping us when it comes down to crunch time.”

But most importantly, the Mavericks are in a stretch when someone unexpected steps up and provides some key plays at critical points.

It happened in the MIAA quarterfinal win over Missouri Southern when Torrian Harris scored a career-high 26 points in an 89-83 victory. In the semifinal win over Emporia State, Jamel LeBranch came off the bench and scored a season-high 11 points.

In the two-point victory over Washburn in the championship game, little-used red-shirt freshman Alex Welhouse was 3-for-5 from the field and had three rebounds. His time on the floor was needed because of foul trouble and a sore ankle to Harris.

“When you win a close game it shows what you are made of,” Bullock said. “When you have to grind it out, get stops, rebounds and come together, that is going to do wonders for us. I’m looking forward to the rest of the season.”

The Mavericks understand it is going to take a complete team effort to keep advancing.

“All the good teams are still here,” Bullock said. “It’s a matter of who is going to make those tough plays and execute down the stretch. We will see how it turns out.”

To reach David Boyce, contributing writer for the MIAA, e-mail davidboyce95@yahoo.com.