With a little context, the 14 offensive rebounds Omaha pulled down Wednesday against Arizona doesn’t really look all that extraordinary.
After all, during Arizona’s 99-49 blowout win, the Mavericks missed 47 shots. That’s an only slightly above-average offensive rebounding percentage of 29.8%.
But it was also Omaha, a low-major team whose tallest rebounder Wednesday was a 6-foot-8-inch workhorse center named Matt Pile.
The opponent wasn’t Gonzaga. But it will be on Saturday.
So UA coach Sean Miller made sure the following message was sent forcefully, even in the wake of a 50-point blowout win Wednesday evening:
“I believe this: Our Achilles’ heel is rebounding,” Miller said.