NEW ORLEANS, La. – The New Orleans Privateers basketball teams take to the floor for a doubleheader against Stephen F. Austin on Thursday at Lakefront Arena in the second-to-last home games of the 2013-14 season starting at 5:30 p.m.
The Privateers men (11-11, 8-6 Southland) are coming off their last effort, a 67-58 win over Southeastern last Thursday. New Orleans overcame 12 first half turnovers, and out-scored the Lions by 13 in the second half of the victory to push their mark back to .500 for the second time this season.
Sophomore
Kevin Hill was recognized by the Southland as Player of the Week for his effort against Southeastern. Hill achieved new career highs with 18 points and 13 rebounds in the win. Hill is second on the team with 6.2 rebounds per game, and has pulled down 40 boards in the last four contests.
New Orleans enters play with the second-best rebounding margin in the conference. On average, the Privateers collect four more boards per game than their opponents. In 14 conference games, the Privateers have only been out-rebounded once (at Oral Roberts).
Freshman guard
Tevin Broyles has emerged as more of a scoring threat lately. Broyles achieved new career highs in points (17) and free throws (six) in the win over Southeastern. In his last eight games, Broyles has notched double figures five times, bumping his points per game from 4.0 to 6.0 in that span.
The Lumberjacks (25-2, 14-0) have been on a tear, winning 22 straight entering play. The Lumberjacks' last loss was on Nov. 23 to East Tennessee State. In the last outing, Stephen F. Austin won a 70-68 thriller over Northwestern State on a game-winning steal and dunk by Jacob Parker with 0.3 seconds remaining.
Stephen F. Austin's biggest forte has been defense. The Lumberjacks lead the conference in points per game allowed (62.6) and defensive three-point percentage (.332). Only two Southland opponents have scored 70 or more points against the Lumberjacks.
Five players average in double figures to account for 62.5 of the Lumberjacks' 75 points per game this season. Parker leads the club with 15.0 points per game, and is shooting 54.2 percent from the field. Parker also leads the Lumberjacks in rebounding with 6.8 boards per game.
The starting lineup has not changed once this season for Stephen F. Austin. Parker, Desmond Hammond, Thomas Walkup, Nikola Gajic, and Trey Pinkney have been the starting five for all 27 Lumberjacks games this season.
The Privateers women's team (0-25, 0-14) searches for their first victory against the Ladyjacks (15-11, 9-5) on Thursday. Last week, New Orleans dropped a 76-59 decision to Southeastern while committing only eight turnovers in the contest, tied for the second lowest total this season.
New Orleans is led offensively by freshman guard
Octavia Wilson, who scored a team-high 13 points last Thursday and leads the club at 9.0 points per game. Sophomore
Yasmin Taylor pulled down 10 rebounds including seven offensive boards. Despite missing 11 games with various injuries, Taylor leads the team with 46 offensive rebounds.
Stephen F. Austin has won five of their last seven contests after enduring a three-game losing skid from Jan. 16-25. The last time on the floor, the Ladyjacks defeated Northwestern State 68-51. This season, Stephen F. Austin is the third-highest scoring team in the Southland with 68.9 points per game.
HD Video of both contests will be available to subscribers of UNO Showcase. The women's broadcast with
Emmanuel Pepis will begin at 3:50 p.m. Radio and Audio coverage of the men's contest will be on WGSO 990 AM, WGSO.com and the TuneIn App wih "Voice of the Privateers" Jude Young calling the action starting 15 minutes following the women's game.
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