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NEW ORLEANS - The University of New Orleans men's basketball team will look to snap a three-game skid and has a tough opponent to do so against when the Privateers play host to three-time defending Southland Conference champion Stephen F. Austin on Monday evening in Lakefront Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 8:05 p.m. and the game will televised live on the American Sports Network.
UNO enters the game 5-10 overall and 1-3 in conference action, but the three league losses have come by a combined 10 points as the Privateers fell at Sam Houston State on Jan. 9, 73-70, and back-to-back home games to Incarnate Word on Jan. 11, 71-68, and Houston Baptist on Jan. 16, 73-69. If they are to snap their current skid, the Privateers will have to find a way to overcome a Stephen F. Austin squad that leads the Southland in several major statistical categories, including points per game, scoring margin, field goal percentage and assist-to-turnover ratio.
"They're a very, very good basketball team that has had a great run over the last few years," UNO head coach
Mark Slessinger said. "They've probably had as good of a run as any team in Southland history. We know that this is a team that has always been a very tough matchup but it's also a team that we thought we played well against a year ago. This will be a great test for us.
"Any time we get a game here in Lakefront Arena, we need to win it. To drop those last two has been hurtful for us. We know we have to take care of the home court. It's a great advantage. We believe we have one of the best facilities in The South. It's a great place to watch a game, it's a great place to play in and it's a great home-court advantage. We have to make sure we take advantage of that."
As a team, the Privateers enter Monday's contest averaging 72.5 points, 38.8 rebounds, 13.7 assists, 8.9 steals and 3.0 blocks per game. Junior guard
Christavious Gill leads a balanced UNO offense with 14.0 points per game while junior forward
Erik Thomas, junior point guard
Nate Frye and senior forward
Kevin Hill follow with respective scoring averages of 10.0, 9.8 and 9.0. Thomas paces the team with 6.9 rebounds per game and headlines the defense with 0.8 blocked shot per outing. Frye leads the Privateers with 3.6 assists per game and Gill has a team-best 2.0 steals-per-contest average.
New Orleans is connecting at a .404 clip from the field, hitting 364-of-902 shots from the floor and 80-of-230 tries from beyond the 3-point arc (.348), while allowing opponents to shoot .423 overall (358-of-847) and .292 from 3-point land (94-of-322). Privateer foes are averaging 72.8 points, 39.3 rebounds, 13.5 assists, 7.9 steals and 5.3 blocks so far in 2015-16.
"The biggest thing is we have to make shots," Slessinger said. "We have to make free throws. We're defending at a very good rate, a rate good enough to win games. We're just not scoring at a rate good enough to win games. We know we have to continue to tweak a couple of things. Guys have to play with more confidence. They've got to go in, attack and make shots when needed."
Stephen F. Austin, meanwhile, comes to town 11-5 on the year, a perfect 4-0 in Southland Conference play and riding the crest of a four-game winning streak dating back to a 86-57 victory over McNeese State in the SLC opener on Jan. 2. SFA has also double-digit margins of victory at Southeastern Louisiana (89-69 on Jan. 4), vs Central Arkansas (85-64 on Jan. 12) and vs Abilene Christian (97-62 on Jan. 16).
As a team, the Lumberjacks are averaging 79.1 points, 34.6 rebounds, 18.9 assists, 9.2 steals and 4.0 blocks per game. Thomas Walkup leads four Stephen F. Austin players with double-figure scoring averages at 15.9 points per game, followed by Clide Geffrard at 12.3, Demetrious Floyd at 11.4 and Ty Charles at 10.3. Geffrard paces the team with 6.2 rebounds while T.J. Holyfield sports a team-best 1.4 blocks-per-game average. In addition to leading the team in scoring, Walkup also holds team-high assist honors with 4.4 per outing and Trey Pinkney leads the defense with 1.9 steals per contest.
Stephen F. Austin is hitting 46.2 percent of its shots from the field, connecting on 458-of-992 field goal attempts, including a 131-of-367 showing from beyond the 3-point line (.357). The Lumberjacks' defense has allowed opponents to post a 46.7 shooting percentage (386-of-827) and a 36.3 clip from 3-point land (98-of-270). SFA opponents are averaging 67.1 points, 33.8 rebounds, 13.2 assists, 4.9 steals and 3.1 blocks per game.
"We're not far off from being in a really good position in this league," Slessinger added. "We have to figure out how to find one or two more play, one or two more stops, and one or two more scores. We have to continue to be a very good defensive team, rely on our defense and get our offense clicking."
Monday's game between New Orleans and Stephen F. Austin marks just the third meeting between the two teams on the hardwood and the Lumberjacks hold a 2-0 advantage in the all-time series. Both of the previous meetings to date have come since the Privateers joined the Southland Conference for the 2013-14 season.
Stephen F. Austin won the first meeting, 103-63, on Feb. 27, 2014, in Lakefront Arena. Last year's contest was a closer ballgame, but the Lumberjacks still came out on top with a 79-54 decision on Jan. 19 in Nacogdoches, Texas.
Following the game against Stephen F. Austin, the Privateers will return to action on Saturday, Jan. 23, when they travel to The Lone Star State to face Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 7 p.m. in the American Bank Center. From there, UNO will kick off a thre-game homestand on Monday, Jan. 25, against Central Arkansas. 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--
