UNO NOTES |PREGAME QUOTES | WATCH LIVE
NEW ORLEANS – The University of New Orleans men's basketball team will look to remain perfect at home and close out non-conference play on a high note when the Privateers square off against Blue Mountain College on Tuesday, Dec. 29, in Lakefront Arena. Tipoff for that game is slated for 5:30 p.m. and all of the action will be broadcast live on-line via the
UNO Showcase.
Tuesday's game is just the third home contest of the season for the Privateers and UNO is 2-0 to date in its home facility after rolling past Pensacola Christian, 94-57, back on Nov. 19 and rallying from an early nine-point deficit to defeat Williams Baptist, 83-66, on Dec. 12. The showdown against the Toppers is also the final contest for New Orleans before starting Southland Conference play on Jan. 4 at Lamar.
"We're looking forward to playing at home most importantly, but we're also excited about having a chance to see the guys perform and get better, and to see if we can make the adjustments and changes," head coach
Mark Slessinger said. "We had a good break and that was a positive. There were some good days of training where we were able to cover a lot, put some stuff in that we wanted to and begin preparing for the game tomorrow."
New Orleans enter its final non-conference contest 3-7 on the year and looking to snap a two-game skid after dropping a 103-95 overtime decision at UMass on Dec. 16 and falling 79-69 at Louisiana-Lafayette on Dec. 21.
As a team, the Privateers are averaging 71.8 points, 38.1 rebounds, 13.9 assists, 8.4 steals and 2.7 blocks per game. Junior guard
Christavious Gill leads three UNO players averaging double figures offensively with 14.4 points per game, followed by junior guard
Nate Frye at 10.9, junior forward
Erik Thomas at 10.1. Thomas paces the team with 7.0 rebounds per game and sophomore
Travin Thibodeaux headlines the defense with 1.0 blocked shot per outing. Frye leads the Privateers with 4.0 assists per game and Gill has a team-best 2.1 steals-per-contest average.
New Orleans is connecting at a .404 clip from the field, hitting 243-of-602 shots from the floor and 55-of-151 tries from beyond the 3-point arc (.364), while allowing opponents to shoot .441 overall (252-of-571) and .299 from 3-point land (63-of-211). Privateer foes are averaging 75.0 points, 38.9 rebounds, 14.0 assists, 8.5 steals and 5.0 blocks so far in 2015-16.
Blue Mountain College, an NAIA opponent from Mississippi, comes to town 2-9 on the season, 0-2 in Southern States Athletic Conference action and looking to bounce back from a 76-74 non-conference loss to Crowley's Ridge back on Dec. 5 in Paragould, Arkansas.
As a team, the Toppers are averaging 67.7 points, 36.4 rebounds, 15.5 assists, 5.3 steals and 1.8 blocks per game. Denio Chirindza a balanced Blue Mountain offense with 9.8 points per game, followed by Justin McClellon at 9.0, Chase Brittingham at 8.9 and Vladimir Filpovic at 8.6. Brittingham paces the team with 5.4 rebounds per game and Conner Helvig has a team-best four blocked shots. McClellon headlines the unit with 3.4 assists per outing while Chirindza leads the defense with 0.6 steals per contest.
Blue Mountain is hitting 40.6 percent of its shots from the field, connecting on 242-of-596 field goal attempts, including an 82-of-230 showing from beyond the 3-point line (.357). The Toppers' defense has allowed opponents to post a 39.8 shooting percentage (253-of-636) and a 33.3 clip from 3-point land (87-of-261). BMC opponents are averaging 68.6 points, 37.7 rebounds, 10.8 assists, 7.9 steals and 2.5 blocks per game.
"It's a team that has a lot of returners, but they've had a lot of injuries early," Slessinger said of Blue Mountain College. "Some of their guys will be coming back from injuries and they have an opportunity to be pretty good. We want to come out and play at a high level against them. We know that they're going to be alright. They've got a chance to come in and win. We saw that with Williams Baptist. That was such a well-coached team and our guys saw right away that good teams can play at high levels."
Tuesday's game between New Orleans and Blue Mountain College marks just the second time the two teams will meet on the hardwood and the Privateers hold a 1-0 advantage in the all-time series after posting a 99-51 victory over the Toppers back on Nov. 20, 2012, in Lakefront Arena.
In addition to Blue Mountain, the Privateers have also played three other teams that are currently members of the Southern State Athletic Conference and hold a 10-2 mark in those contests. UNO is 6-1 against against Loyola-New Orleans, 2-1 vs Wiliam Carey and 1-0 against both BMC and the University of Mobile.
Following Tuesday's home game against Blue Mountain College and the SLC opener at Lamar, UNO returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 9, when the team travels to Huntsville, Texas, to face Sam Houston State. New Orleans' next home game is slated for Monday, Jan. 11, when the Privateers play host to league foe Incarnate Word at 7 p.m. in Lakefront Arena.
Tickets to that contest and future Privateer sporting events can be purchased by clicking
HERE or by calling the UNO Athletics Ticket Office at (504) 280-GAME (4263).
--www.UNOPrivateers.com--
