The University of New Orleans men's basketball team will open the home portion of the 2015-16 schedule on Thursday, Nov. 19, when the Privateers play host to Pensacola Christian College at 7:45 p.m. in Lakefront Arena. The game against the Eagles is the second half of a UNO double-header as the women's team will take on LSU-Alexandria starting at 5:30 p.m.
Home-court advantage has been key to Privateer success over the years as UNO sports a 37-9 record in the first game held on campus each season since the program began in 1969-70. Under fifth-year head coach
Mark Slessinger, New Orleans is 4-0 in home openers, including last year's 88-61 win over the very same Pensacola Christian program on Nov. 18.
"We're excited to be back and open up the season at home," Slessinger said. "It's going to be great to be in the friendly confines of Lakefront Arena and to have our friends and family there to watch us play a double-header with our women's team. They're great partners for us in basketball, in coaching and in friendship. It will be good to get home and get a game in before we have to go back on another tough road stretch again against some really, really good basketball teams again."
UNO enters Thursday's twin bill looking for its first win of the year after dropping road contests to Bowling Green (79-61 on Nov. 14) and Duquesne (95-75 on Nov. 16). As a team, the Privateers are averaging 68.0 points, 35.5 rebounds, 12.0 assists, 6.5 steals and 2.0 blocks per game.
Junior guard
Christavious Gill leads the team with 19.0 points per game, followed by sophomore wing
Michael Zeno at 15.5 and junior forward
Erik Thomas at 8.5. Senior forward
Kevin Hill paces the team with 10.5 rebounds per game while junior guard
Nate Frye headlines the Privateers with 2.5 assists and 1.3 steals per outing. Thomas leads the UNO defense with 1.0 blocks per contest.
New Orleans is connecting at a .380 clip from the field, hitting 46-of-121 shots from the floor, and 9-of-26 tries from beyond the 3-point arc (.346), while allowing opponents to shoot .533 overall (57-of-107) and .385 from 3-point land (20-of-52). Privateer foes are averaging 87.0 points, 36.5 rebounds, 19.0 assists, 6.0 steals and 5.0 blocks per game so far in 2015-16.
Thursday's contest marks the fourth meeting between UNO and Pensacola Christian on the hardwood, and the Privateers hold a 3-0 advantage in the all-time series. In addition to last year's 88-61 win, New Orleans twice defeated the Eagles during the 2010-11 campaign – claiming a 76-58 home win on Dec. 4 and squeaking out a 64-62 road decision on March 3.
A member of the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA), Pensacola Christians comes to town with a 3-6 overall record and looking to snap a two-game skid after falling at home to Mobile (64-60 on Nov. 12) and to Tennessee Wesleyan (98-59 on Nov. 14).
Last season, the Eagles finished eight among all NCCAA Division II programs with a winning percentage of 55.6 courtesy of a 15-12 record. A year ago, Pensacola Christian led its league with a plus-11.3 rebound margin and 4.8 blocks per game while ranking third in NCCAA Division II in both field goal defense (.394) and rebounds per game (40.9) and fifth in scoring defense (70.4 ppg).
Following the game against Pensacola Christian, New Orleans returns to action on Wednesday, Nov. 25, when the Privateers open a four-game road trip at Bradley in Peoria, Illinois. From there, UNO will play at Northwestern on Nov. 28, at Tulane on Dec. 2 and at Ball State on Dec. 5. The Privateers' next home game is slated for Saturday, Dec. 12, when they play host to Williams Baptist at 6:15 p.m. in Lakefront Arena.
Season tickets for the UNO men's basketball team remain on sale at prices of $100 for general admission and $500 for Courtside Krewe status. UNO alumni can order season tickets for $80 while faculty and staff season tickets run $50. Single-game tickets are also available for pre-order and at the gate at $10 for general admission, $5 for children 12 and under and $7 each for groups of 10 or more. Current students can attend all UNO events free of charge with a valid ID.
Tickets can be purchased by calling the UNO Athletics Ticket Office at (504) 280-GAME (4263) or visiting logging on to the internet at UNOPrivateers.universitytickets.com/packages/PackageList.asp and clicking on "Season Tickets" in the header.
