New Orleans Privateers (4-11) at Rice University (3-13)
Saturday, Jan. 19, 2013 • 7 p.m. CST • WGSO 990 AM
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UNO Game Notes • Rice Game Notes
HOUSTON – New Orleans begin a stretch of three games in five days on Saturday at 7 p.m. as the Privateers men's basketball team visits Rice at Tudor Fieldhouse.
The game can be heard on WGSO 990 AM and WGSO.com with live stats and video accessible via the RiceOwls.com web site.
UNO (4-11) most recently took the floor on Jan. 12 in an 87-50 victory over Champion Baptist.
A common attribute associated with the Privateers this season reared its head in the contest as many different players stepped up at various times throughout the game to help the squad stop its six-game losing streak.
Maurice County, inserted into the starting lineup for the first time this season by head coach
Mark Slessinger, prospered in the contest. A junior from Pineville, La., County established career-highs in points (eight), rebounds (five) and assists (four).
County was one of four players with at least three steals in the game while joining
Rarlensee Nelson and
Isaac Mack to become the first trio of players this year with four or more assists in a game apiece.
As a team, the 22 steals against CBC fell one short of the school-record 23 accomplished against Southwestern (Kan.) on Nov. 27, 1985 with the Privateers' 23 assists representing the third time on the season that the team topped 20.
Overall this year,
Lovell Cook has averaged 19.5 points over the two last two contest to bolster his scoring average to a team-best 14 points per game on the season. Cook entered the week ranked No. 17 nationally with a 58.4 percent field goal percentage.
Nelson is second on the team in points per contest (9.0) while ranking No. 14 in the country with 6.6 assists per game. Rounding out the trio of scoring leaders is
Cory Dixon, who averages 8.1 points off the bench while topping the squad in rebounds (4.9 per game) and blocks (12).
Rice (3-13) has dropped its last six contests since defeating Chicago State 63-60 in overtime on Dec. 19. The current six-game skid includes a trio of losses to Conference USA opponents.
Tamir Jackson is the leading scorer on Ben Braun's squad with 16.2 points per game. Jackson has scored at least 20 points in game on five occasions, including a high of 26 in a loss against LIU-Brooklyn on Dec. 12.
The Owls defeated UNO by a score of 83-49 in the teams' encounter last season on Nov. 12, 2011. Rice turned the ball over 25 times in the contest, but overcame the miscues by shooting 54 percent from the field and holding a 54-22 edge on the glass.
The Privateers will return home for a Monday night contest at 7 p.m. against New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) before heading back out on the road to play Air Force on Wednesday at 8 p.m. (CT).
