Men's Basketball To Tipoff 2016-17 Campaign Friday vs LaGrange

QUOTES | GAME NOTES

NEW ORLEANS – After months of offseason conditioning and weeks of preseason practices, the University of New Orleans men's basketball team will tipoff the 2016-17 campaign on Friday, Nov. 11, when the Privateers take on LaGrange College at 7 p.m. in Lakefront Arena.

The game is part of the University's Veterans Appreciation Week festivities and all current and former military members will receive two complimentary tickets to the contest and will be invited to join the team on the court during the playing of the National Anthem.

"It's amazing how fast time flies and how quickly this first game has gotten upon us here," head coach Mark Slessinger said. "Now, we're about to start the season and the guys are excited – I know our staff is – to play in front of our fans and see how much we've improved from our offseason efforts.

"I want to see us go out and play sharp, I want to see us come out with good energy and be able to take a step forward with where we're at in our overall execution. I like and I'm really proud of the work that our team has done. They've done some really good things. The leadership has been good internally and our culture has been really good coming off the end of last year and moving forward."

The Privateers are coming off an up-and-down 2015-16 campaign that saw the New Orleans squad finish 10-20 overall, finish tied for ninth in the Southland Conference standings with a 6-12 league mark and advance to the SLC Tournament for the second consecutive year. Nine of the UNO losses were by single-digit deficits, including seven games by a combined 20 points, and another came in overtime.

Expectations are high for the sixth season under Slessinger's direction, however, as the team returns all five starters among 10 lettermen from last season. Headlined by preseason All-Southland Conference honoree Christavious Gill (IDS/Behavioral Studies), the Privateers bring back 86.1 percent of the points (1,936 of 2,249), 81.8 percent of the rebounds (930-of-1137), 93.4 percent of the assists (381-of-408), 94.0 percent of the steals (237-of-252) and 75.0 percent of the blocked shots (57-of-76) from last season.

Gill led UNO with 14.8 points per game and 57 total steals while senior forward Erik Thomas (IDS/Business) paced the Privateers with 6.9 rebounds per outing and finished second on the squad with 11.8 points per contest. Senior guard Nate Frye (Human Performance & Health Promotions) handed out a team-best 104 assists and junior wing Michael Zeno (IDS/Business) represents New Orleans' top returning rim protector after posting 17 blocked shots last season.

In addition to the 10 returning student-athletes, UNO added the talents of five newcomers in junior college transfers Makur Puou (Political Science) and Jorge Rosa (IDS/Behavioral Studies) as well as freshmen A.J. Cheeseman (Human Performance & Health Promotions), Bryson Robinson (Mechanical Engineering) and Gavin Sabo (Interdisciplinary Studies).

Both transfers bring impressive credentials to the Privateer program as Puou was an honorable-mention NJCAA All-American last season at Vincennes University while Rosa, who played at Indian Hill Community College in 2015-16, was named National Mid-Major Freshman of the year by College Court Report following his true freshman campaign at Florida A&M two years ago. All three incoming freshmen, meanwhile, garnered all-state distinction during their respective prep careers.

As a team, the Privateers averaged 75.0 points, 37.9 rebounds, 13.6 assists, 8.4 steals and 2.5 blocks per game while hitting 41.9 percent of their field goals (763-of-1821), 33.7 percent of their 3-pointers (162-of-481) and 68.8 percent of their free throws (561-of-816). Defensively, UNO allowed its opponents to average 77.5 points, 37.1 rebounds, 14.8 assists, 8.1 steals and 4.7 blocks per game while connecting at a .455 clip from the field (787-of-1726), .359 from beyond the arc (227-of-633) and .716 from the free throw line (528-of-737).

"We're very excited to have four, good, quality seniors this year," Slessinger said. "When you add in a junior class that is very solid, features guys with experience and bring in two new guys in that class as well who I think will be impact-type players. To have eight or nine guys in that upper class is huge in the big picture of how we've been trying to build this program and move forward.

"Offensively, we've taken some good steps forward. We've tweaked some things that will help us with our personnel. We should be able to score the ball at a more efficient rate. Defensively, we're going to play some really solid man to man. We'll adjust a few things within that to make us more efficient in the half-court defense. I think it's going to be good."

Last season, LaGrange went 20-9 overall, tied for third in the USA South Conference courtesy of a 9-5 league record, advanced to the conference championship game and earned a berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament. The Panthers return 14 of 16 student-athletes who saw time on the court last season, including senior guard Justyn Olson who paced the squad with 16.7 points per game a year ago.

Olson also led LaGrange with 62 steals and shared team-high assists honors with 81. The Panthers also return their top rebounder from 2015-16 in junior guard Alex Bonner, who headlined the club with 5.7 boards per outing, as well as their leading shot blocker in senior forward Drew Vanderbrook, who swatted 16 shots last season. Vanderbrook also represents the team's top returning 3-point shooter after draining 52-of-148 shots from beyond the arc as a junior.

As a team, the Panthers averaged 88.3 points, 41.2 rebounds, 13.9 assists, 9.5 steals and 2.6 blocks per game while shooting .441 from the field (867-of-1964), .339 from beyond the 3-point arc (240-of-707) and .723 from the free throw line (586-of-811) during their march to the NCAA Tournament. LaGrange opponents, meanwhile, averaged 81.9 points, 41.4 rebounds, 14.3 assists, 7.2 steals and 3.0 blocks per contests while connecting a .444 clip overall (808-of-1820), .314 from downtown (221-of-704) and .651 from the charity stripe (825-of-825).

"They've got an amazing program," Slessinger said of the Panthers. "Kendal Wallace has done an incredible job of building a perennial NCAA Tournament team there. They've been to three straight NCAA Tournaments. They bring back two really accomplished scorers in Vanderbrook and Bonner. Those are two guys that are really good players. They're Division I players. They are a program that is accustomed to winning. They run really good stuff. Their junior class has a plethora of talent. They're a really, really good team."

Friday's season-opening contest against LaGrange is the first of 14 home games for the Privateers. In addition to nine games against Southland Conference competition, the New Orleans squad will play host to non-conference foes Florida College on Nov. 25, Tulane on Nov. 29, Louisiana-Lafayette on Dec. 17 and Williams Baptist on Dec. 21.

For tickets to those games and other Privateer Athletics events, contact the UNO Athletics Ticket Office at (504) 280-GAME (4263) or over the Internet by clicking HERE.