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NEW ORLEANS – The University of New Orleans men's basketball team will look to return to its winning ways when the Privateers play host to Southland Conference foe Houston Baptist at 6:15 p.m. (CST) in Lakefront Arena.
The men's contest against the Huskies is the second half of a UNO basketball doubleheader as the women will also face Houston Baptist starting at 4 p.m. Both games will be broadcast live nationally on ESPN3 and the audio broadcast is available for free online via the UNO Showcase.
"Having ESPN3 broadcast a home game is huge," UNO head coach
Mark Slessinger said. "This is an arena that has had so many great games and great people in it. It's great for our University, No. 1, and it's an opportunity to showcase this great asset we have in Lakefront Arena. To show that on a national stage both on Saturday on ESPN3 and the Monday game as well. It's not often you get two televised games in three days, so to be able to do that is special. We're anxious to see how we can perform, show people our brand, show people our brand and give everyone a taste of UNO and New Orleans."
New Orleans enters Saturday's contest 5-9 on the year, 1-2 in Southland Conference action and looking to snap a two-game skid after falling to Sam Houston State, 73-70, on Jan. 9 in Huntsville, Texas, before dropping a 71-68 home loss to Incarnate Word on Jan. 11 in Lakefront Arena.
As a team, the Privateers are averaging 72.7 points, 38.9 rebounds, 14.0 assists, 8.9 steals and 2.9 blocks per game. Junior guard
Christavious Gill leads three UNO players averaging double figures offensively with 13.9 points per game while junior point guard
Nate Frye and junior forward
Erik Thomas follow with respective scoring averages of 10.1 and 10.0. Thomas paces the team with 7.0 rebounds per game and senior forward
Kevin Hill headlines the defense with 0.9 blocked shot per outing. Frye leads the Privateers with 3.8 assists per game and Gill has a team-best 2.1 steals-per-contest average.
New Orleans is connecting at a .407 clip from the field, hitting 340-of-836 shots from the floor and 77-of-216 tries from beyond the 3-point arc (.356), while allowing opponents to shoot .423 overall (336-of-794) and .297 from 3-point land (91-of-306). Privateer foes are averaging 72.8 points, 38.8 rebounds, 13.9 assists, 8.1 steals and 5.2 blocks so far in 2015-16.
"I think we're playing well defensively," Slessinger said. "We continue to be very, very consistent and very solid defensively and one of the better defensive teams in the league. I think our effort has been solid and its created opportunity for our team to come along offensively. I wish it would come along a little quicker than we are, but we know that it is coming. We see it in practice.
"We see pieces of it come together. We just have to get it all to come together offensively just like we've been able to do defensively. We've played so well defensively pretty much the whole year and I think our numbers and percentages lend to that and show that. We've got to turn the corner."
Houston Baptist comes to town 9-7 on the year, a perfect 4-0 in Southland Conference play and riding the crest of a five-game winning streak dating back to a 101-47 home victory over Ecclesia on Dec. 29. In league play, HBU posted a road win at Northwestern State (99-73 on Jan. 2) and home victories over McNeese State (82-73 on Jan. 5), Southeastern Louisiana (77-58 on Jan. 9) and Nicholls (78-69 on Jan. 13).
As a team, the Huskies are averaging 77.9 points, 38.8 rebounds, 15.0 assists, 6.3 steals and 5.0 blocks per game. Anthony Odunsi leads Houston Baptist offensively with 16.0 points per game, followed by Josh Ibarra at 10.6, Colter Lasher at 9.1 and Reveal Chukwujekwu at 8.4. Ibarra paces the team with 6.6 rebounds while Isaiah Robinson sports a team-best 2.5 blocks-per-game average. Odusi holds team-high assist and steal honors with respective averages of 4.0 and 1.4.
Houston Baptist is hitting 46.7 percent of its shots from the field, connecting on 442-of-946 field goal attempts, including n 85-of-246 showing from beyond the 3-point line (.346). The Huskies' defense has allowed opponents to post a 41.0 shooting percentage (399-of-973) and a 33.3 clip from 3-point land (105-of-315). HBU opponents are averaging 72.4 points, 36.2 rebounds, 14.2 assists, 5.9 steals and 4.2 blocks per game.
"They're a very explosive offensive team," Slessinger added. "Coach [Ron]Cottrell is a great, great basketball coach with a great offensive mind. They've got a very talented big man in Ibarra and a very talented perimeter scorer in Odunsi that can really do a lot of big things. We know it's going to be a battle for us."
Saturday's game between New Orleans and Houston Baptist marks the 13th meeting between the two teams on the hardwood and the Privateers hold a 7-5 advantage in the all-time series. Since the two teams became members of the Southland Conference for the 2012-13 campaign, UNO is 1-3 against the Huskies with the lone win coming in a 79-66 decision in Houston on Jan. 23, 2014. HBU won last year's lone matchup, earning a 74-73 home win on Jan. 17.
The series against the Huskies dates back to the 1969-70 season when New Orleans posted a 92-74 win that Dec. 20 in the Human Performance Center. The Privateers are 4-1 against Houston Baptist in New Orleans, including a 1-1 mark in Lakefront Arena. The last time the two teams met in the Crescent City came on Feb. 9, 2013, when the Huskies came out on top, 75-68.
Following the game against Houston Baptist, UNO will close out its three-game homestand on Monday, Jan. 18, when Stephen F. Austin comes to Lakefront Arena for a 7 p.m. contest. Tickets all basketball games and future Privateer sporting events can be purchased by clicking
HERE or by calling the UNO Athletics Ticket Office at (504) 280-GAME (4263).
