BOX SCORE (PDF) | POSTGAME QUOTESNEW ORLEANS – Junior forward
Erik Thomas and freshman guard
Cameron Reed came off the bench to score 17 points each, and senior forward
Kevin Hill posted a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds, as the University of New Orleans men's basketball team opened the home portion of the 2015-16 season with a 94-57 win over Pensacola Christian College on Thursday evening in Lakefront Arena.
Reed and Thomas' offensive production helped the UNO reserves outscore their Eagles' counterparts, 50-9 ,as the Privateers' posted their most lopsided margin of victory since downing Champion Baptist, 101-38, back on Dec. 14, 2013. The victory was the first of the young season for UNO as the team improved to 1-2 on the year. Pensacola Christian, meanwhile, dropped its third-straight game to fall to 3-7.
"We played a lot better and with a ton of energy," head coach
Mark Slessinger said. "We were very vocal. We had a lot of volume defensively. In the first half, we had a couple of lulls defensively where we lost focus, but we were able to come out with a lot of pop in the second half, which was good. We were able to set the tone for how the second half was going to go.
"We're still a growing team. As much as I like to think we're a super veteran team, we've got five new faces who are playing a lot of minutes in the three freshmen and the two transfers. They've got to get into the deep end of the pool and figure out how to swim. We're making steps and growing the right way. I'm excited about it. This was a good night for us and a good home opener. Our students were out in full force and that really helped the environment."
As a team, New Orleans hit 49.2 percent of its shots from the field (30-of-61) and 45.0 percent from beyond the 3-point arc, including a 17-of-30 showing from the floor (.567) and a 6-of-11 performance from downtown (.545) in the second half. Defensively, the Privateers held the Eagles to a .391 clip (18-of-46) overall and a .222 mark (4-of-18) from 3-point land.
UNO held a 36-20 advantage in points in the paint, turned 21 Pensacola Christian turnovers into 31 points and converted 21 offensive rebounds into 29 second-chance points. The Privateers out-rebounded the Eagles, 48-22 and sank 25-of-36 free throws to send the crowd home happy.
Both Reed and Thomas were 6-of-9 from the field, and all but two of Reed's points came courtesy of five 3-pointers. Junior guard
Nate Frye was next for UNO offensively with 16 points. Junior guard
Christavious Gill had seven assists and four steals to lead UNO in both categories while Thomas finished just shy of a double-double with nine rebounds. All 12 of the healthy Privateers saw action in the game and 11 scored at least two points.
"We've got a pretty good group where we can mix and match some combinations," Slessinger said. "We can put some smaller lineups together or play a little bit bigger. It was good to see those guys come in with confidence off the bench, come in and produce right away across the board. I'm excited about where we're going as a team."
UNO scored the first five points of the game and the lead swelled to double figures at 19-9 just under eight minutes into the contest. New Orleans went into the locker room at halftime on top, 40-26, only to see Pensacola Christian open the second half with a 4-0 run to make it a 10-point ballgame. UNO answered with a 11-0 run to go up 51-30 with 15:35 left in regulation and the advantage dipped below 20 for just 40 seconds the rest of the night.
Holding an 18-point lead at 70-52 with 6:43 to play, the Privateers 12-2 run over the next 2:02 to take a commanding 28-point advantage. Pensacola Christian managed just three free throws the rest of the way and New Orleans closed out the game with a
Coleman Edwards 3-pointer, a layup by
Travis Avery and a bucket by Mathew Jiles over the last 2:26 to account for the final score.
"We try to start practice fast," Slessinger added. "We try and come out of timeouts fast. We want to be the aggressor and push it. We know that's something that we have to train to do. You can't just hope and wish it to happen. You have to train to do it. We've got a brutal stretch coming up…We know that a key for us is that we have to get out fast – out of timeouts, out of halves. We have to be the aggressor."
Joel Thomas paced Pensacola Christian with 19 points followed by Corey Williams with 11. Thomas also led the Eagles with three assists and a trio of steals while sharing the team lead in blocks with Andrew Thomas at one apiece.
UNO returns to action on Wednesday, Nov. 25, when the Privateers open a four-game road trip at Bradley in Peoria, Illinois. From there, New Orleans 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.
Tickets to that game and future Privateer sporting events can be purchased by clicking
HERE or by calling the UNO Athletics Ticket Office at (504) 280-GAME (4263).
