The Omaha Mavericks 2023-2024 men’s basketball season comes to an end with a 15-18 overall record and an 8-10 conference record which includes tournament games. This is an improvement for head coach Chris Crutchfield in his second season with the Mavs from last season where Omaha had a 9-23 overall record and a 5-15 conference record and finished dead last in the Summit League.
In the game against 3 seed North Dakota in the Summit League Quarterfinals, Tony Osburn returned to the starting lineup for Omaha after missing the past five games due to a hand injury. The first half was a back and forth affair as Omaha had a 5 point lead only for North Dakota to respond and take the lead. North Dakota led 36-32 at the half after a two point shot buzzer beater. In the second half, North Dakota led the entire second half and were up by 10 points. Omaha would outscore North Dakota 15-4 in the final 4 minutes and 53 seconds left in the game and held North Dakota scoreless in the final 2 minutes and 53 seconds of the game. The Mavs would get crucial baskets while North Dakota would not make any three point baskets, two point baskets, and committed offensive fouls opening up the door for Omaha. Omaha was down by 1 with 8 seconds left and Frankie Fidler made the game winning jump shot with 3 seconds left in the game where Omaha won 73-72, advancing Omaha to the Summit League Semifinals where they would take on 7 seed Denver. Frankie Fidler led Omaha with 34 points, Marquel Sutton had 13 points, Nick Davis had 12 points, JJ White with 7 points, Tony Osburn with 5 points, and Grant Stubblefield had 2 points.
In the Summit League Semifinals against 7 seed Denver, Omaha got off to a very slow start while Tommy Bruner hit three straight 3 pointers for Denver and forced Omaha to use a very early timeout. Denver got off to a 16-4 lead before Tommy Bruner’s bad ankle started to bother him where Omaha tried to take advantage of that. Omaha slowly clawed their way back into the game in the first half and took a 34-32 lead at halftime. In the second half, it was a very close game and back and forth affair. Omaha got up by 7 points but Denver responded very well and took the lead. Omaha could not capitalize on Denver’s mistakes from turnovers, missed shots, and missed free throws. Denver’s defense which was not very good all season played a zone defense which confused Omaha big time and threw them off in the second half of this game. Omaha was down late in the game and could not make free throws but had a chance at the end of the game to send it into overtime with a three quarters court shot by Frankie Fidler which missed wide of the basket. Omaha would lose to Denver 66-63 ending their season. Frankie Fidler led Omaha with 27 points, Tony Osburn had 12 points, Marquel Sutton had 10 points, Nick Davis with 8 points, JJ white had 4 points, and Grant Stubblefield had 2 points. Frankie Fidler did make the All Summit League Team with his performances during both games.
Omaha will lose Nick Davis due to eligibility and only played one season with the Mavs after transferring from Southern Nazarene College. A week after the Summit League Tournament, the transfer portal opened up and took out several players from this Omaha roster. Luke Jungers was the first Maverick to enter the transfer portal and did not play a ton this season for Omaha and only played at the beginning of the season. Luke played a key role during his freshman year last season and was a player recruited locally and played high school at Creighton Prep in Omaha. Jaeden Marshall followed suit by entering the transfer portal and played for two seasons with Omaha and played a key role mainly on the bench and started several games too. Marcel Bryant only played one season for Omaha and was expected to be a bench player next season but decided to enter the transfer portal. Jamal Ambrose was starting to get some playing time towards the end of this season and played one season with Omaha and entered the transfer portal. Last but not least the one player everyone was expecting to see enter the transfer portal Frankie Fidler. This is a key loss for Omaha and was the main player who was carrying this team along. Frankie played three seasons for Omaha and was the leader in everything from points, assists, free throws, drawing fouls, clutch shots, etc. There is a great possibility that Frankie plays with a power 5 school next season. The question will be for Omaha this offseason, who else enters the transfer portal, who Omaha gets from the transfer portal, and what recruits Coach Chris Crutchfield gets.