SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – After a 2-4 start, defending regular season and tournament champion Omaha has reeled off three straight wins to vault into the top half of the Summit standings at the midway point of the season. Junior Paul Djobet, a Miami (Fla.) transfer, has played a key role during the winning streak, ripping off three straight double-doubles to improve the Mavericks to 5-4 against league foes.

Djobet, who became eligible two games prior to Summit League play commencing, is averaging 20.0 ppg and a 7.2 rpg in 11 games for the Mavericks. In his nine Summit games, the Lille, France, native is second in the league in scoring, averaging 21.2 ppg and shares the lead with four double-doubles in conference action. He’s third in rebounding (8.4 rpg) and is shooting 51.5 percent from the field.

The Mavericks face two teams ahead of them in the standings on the road this week, playing at North Dakota Thursday before traveling to league-leading North Dakota State Saturday. The Fighting Hawks are currently tied for second at 7-2 in league play with St. Thomas after snapping the Tommies’ 28-game home winning streak last week with a thrilling 81-80 victory in St. Paul. The Bison, at 9-0 in Summit action, host Denver and the Mavericks this week.

The Tommies bounced back with an emphatic win over Kansas City Sunday on CBSSN and will be back on the network Wednesday with a road clast at South Dakota State, who is trying to join the top half of the standings after getting back to .500 in league play with a home win over Oral Roberts Saturday. The Jackrabbits will also have back-to-back games on the network as they will host in-state rival South Dakota Saturday at 5 p.m. CT.

The Coyotes have overcome the injury blues to sit at 4-5 in league play with a road game at Kansas City before turning their focus to the Jacks.

The Coyotes-Roos will be on the Summit League Network Wednesday along with a pair of games Thursday from the Peace Garden State and a trio of games Saturday.

AROUND THE LEAGUE
• Omaha heads into the back half of the conference slate with some momentum after ripping off three straight wins to move over the .500 mark. The defending regular season and tournament champions head to North Dakota and North Dakota State this week looking to continue its climb in the standings.
• Junior Paul Djobet has a double-double in each of those three victories for the Mavericks and garnered his first career Kwik Star Peak Performer of the Week award. He tallied back-to-back double-doubles in wins over South Dakota State and at Denver last week, averaging 21.5 ppg and 10.5 rpg.
• North Dakota dealt St. Thomas its final loss at Schoenecker Arena, a 74-64 win on Jan. 27, 2024, and its first loss at the Lee and Penny Anderson Arena last Thursday thanks to a 81-80 victory.
• The Tommies had won 28 games in between, which was the nation’s longest homecourt winning streak, before UND stole an inbounds pass late in the game and Eli King hit the game-winning layup with 6.9 seconds to play.
• Garrett Anderson led the Fighting Hawks with 20 points in the win over the Tommies, while King added 14 points and six rebounds as they improved to 7-2 on the season.
• The Tommies would bounce back Sunday with a 99-65 victory over Kansas City at The Penny, posting the largest margin of victory in a Summit League game this season.
• Junior Carter Bjerke scored a career-high 30 points after setting a UST Division I-program record with 10 makes from beyond the arc. He finished 10-of-14 from deep and is one of 14 DI players with double-digit triples in a game this season.
• The last Summit League player to make 10 3-pointers in a game was South Dakota State’s David Jenkins, Jr., who made 10 at Omaha on Feb. 14, 2019.
• North Dakota State’s Noah Feddersen led six Bison in double figures with 20 points off the bench in an 89-84 overtime win at South Dakota.
• NDSU improved to 9-0 in league play and is one of eight DI programs that remain unbeaten in their respective conference play.
• South Dakota took league-leading NDSU to overtime this past Saturday, erasing a 19-point deficit to force the extra session before eventually falling 89-84.
• Junior Jordan Crawford scored a career-high 33 points for the Coyotes and matched Denver’s Carson Johnson for the most points by a Summit League player in a game this season. He has scored 20-plus in four of USD’s last five games, averaging 23.6 ppg during that stretch.
• Freshman Uzziah Buntyn scored a career-high 26 for USD in a 77-69 home win over Oral Roberts Thursday and backed that up with 25 in the OT-loss to NDSU.
• Buntyn leads all Summit players with 66 free throws in conference play, including averaging 10.3 over his last four games. He ranks second in percentage with 90.4 percent clip to DU’s Johnson (91.5; 43-for-47).
• Johnson scored all 19 of his points in the second half in DU’s 84-82 home loss to Omaha. He led the Pioneers with 22  in their road win at Kansas City and is averaging league-best 22.1 ppg in nine Summit games.
• South Dakota State pulled even at 4-4 midway through its conference slate with a 95-72 home win over Oral Roberts. Joe Sayler and Jaden Jackson each scored 24 points in the victory, combining to go 18-for-30 from the field and 8-for-15 from deep.
• After missing KC’s loss to Denver with an illness, C.J. Evans led the Roos with 16 points and seven rebounds Sunday at St. Thomas. Kasheem Grady II had led the Roos in scoring the previous four games.
• The Roos announced Sunday that former Maryland head coach Mark Turgeon will take over the program following the conclusion of the season. He led the Terrapins to the 2016 Sweet 16 and was named the 2015 Big Ten Coach of the Year. He also has head coaching experience at Texas A&M, Wichita State and Jacksonville State.
• Oral Roberts’ Ty Harper put up back-to-back 20-plus efforts in road losses at SDSU and South Dakota last week. HIs 26-point outing against the Jacks established a new career-high was his eighth 20-plus game of the campaign. The Youngstown State transfer leads the Golden Eagles in scoring at 15.8 ppg.

UPCOMING
Game | Stream/TV | Local Time
Wednesday, Feb. 4
South Dakota at Kansas City | SLN | 7 p.m. CT
St. Thomas at SDSU | CBSSN | 6 p.m. CT
 
Thursday, Feb. 5
Omaha at North Dakota | SLN/MS | 7 p.m. CT
Denver at NDSU | SLN/WDAYX | 7 p.m. CT
 
Saturday, Feb. 7
Denver at North Dakota | SLN/MS | 1 p.m. CT
Omaha at NDSU | SLN/WDAYX | 1 p.m. CT
South Dakota at SDSU | CBSSN | 5 p.m. CT
Oral Roberts at St. Thomas | SLN | 7 p.m. CT

Wednesday, Feb. 11
North Dakota at South Dakota | SLN/MS | 7 p.m. CT
Thursday, Feb. 12
St. Thomas at Omaha* |SLN | 7 p.m. CT
Kansas City at Oral Roberts* | SLN | 7 p.m. CT
SDSU at Denver* | SLN/ALT2 | 7 p.m. MT
 
Saturday, Feb. 14
NDSU at North Dakota* | CBSSN | 1 p.m. CT
SDSU at Oral Roberts* | SLN | 7 p.m. CT
St. Thomas at Kansas City* | SLN | 7 p.m. CT
 
Sunday, Feb. 15
Denver at Omaha* | CBSSN | 12 p.m. CT
Key: ALT2 (Altitude); CBSSN (CBS Sports Network); FOX9+ (FOX9 Plus Minneapolis); MS (Midco Sports); MS2 (Midco Sports 2); SLN (Summit League Network).

Polls: AP/Coaches

RESULTS
Wednesday, Jan. 28
Omaha 80, SDSU 71*
Denver 69, Kansas City 61*

Thursday, Jan. 29
North Dakota 81, St. Thomas 80*
South Dakota 77, Oral Roberts 69*

Saturday, Jan. 31
NDSU 89, South Dakota 84 (OT)*
Omaha 84, Denver 82*
SDSU 95, Oral Roberts 72*

Sunday, Feb. 1
St. Thomas 99, Kansas City 64*

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