NEW ORLEANS, La. – The New Orleans Privateers basketball team will travel to take on the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Saturday. The game will originate live on ESPN3 with tip-off at 2 p.m. CT.
The Privateers (1-3) are in the midst of a three-game slide and are coming off of a 91-58 loss at Hawaii on November 27. In the game, New Orleans was led by senior
Isaac Mack in the game, tallying a career-high 14 points. Mack enters Saturday's game as one of three players averaging over 10-plus points on the season with a 10.8 points per game mark, and has converted at least one 3-pointer in all four games this season.
Senior
Cory Dixon leads the Privateers on the season, having team tops in scoring (16.5 ppg), rebounding (8.0 rpg), blocks (2.3 bpg) and assists (3.0 apg). Following Mack and Dixon in scoring is junior transfer
Matt Derenbecker with a 10.7 points per game average. Derenbecker started his first game as a Privateer at Hawaii, having seven points and five rebounds before fouling out late in the second quarter.
Minnesota (7-2) is fresh off of a 71-61 win over Florida State for the Big 10/ACC Challenge. In the game, the Golden Gophers and Seminoles combined for 67 foul shots and a total of 52 personal fouls. Andre Hollins led Minnesota with 21 points.
The Golden Gophers have three players averaging over 10-plus per game with Hollins leading the way with 16.4 points per game. Hollins has connected on 18 of 54 3-pointers this season, and as a team, Minnesota is shooting 34.6 percent (72 of 208) from downtown. The Golden Gophers are also shooting 42.5 percent (228 of 536) from the floor heading into Saturday's contest.
As a team, the Privateers are forcing just under 20 turnovers a game, while Minnesota is averaging just over 10 miscues a game. The Golden Gophers and Privateers are almost identical in the rebounding department, with New Orleans averaging 38 boards per game to Minnesota's 37.2 mark.
Be sure to listen to the call of the game at 990 AM WGSO and at
www.wgso.com. To watch the game,
click here.
