Men's Basketball To Open 3-Game Road Swing At Oklahoma State

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NEW ORLEANS – The University of New Orleans men's basketball team will open the road portion of the 2016-17 slate on Wednesday, Nov. 16, when the Privateers travel to Stillwater, Okla., to take on Oklahoma State in Gallagher-Iba Arena. The contest is slated for 7 p.m. and will be broadcast live on Fox Sports Southwest Plus (Click HERE for local listings).

UNO hits the road with a 1-0 record after defeating LaGrange College, 103-67, on Friday night in Lakefront Arena and have a chance to go 2-0 to start open a season for the first time since 2007-08 when the Privateers posted road wins at Northwestern State (72-66 on Nov. 14) and No. 21 North Carolina State 974-67 on Nov. 18). The game against the Cowboys is the first of a three-game road swing as New Orleans will play at Tulsa on Nov. 19 (3 p.m. tipoff on ESPN3) and at Southern California on Nov. 22 (8 p.m. tipoff on Pac-12 Networks).

"They're very, very good," Privateers head coach Mark Slessinger said of Oklahoma State. "They're as good of a coached team as any team in the country with Coach [Brad] Underwood, a guy we know very well from our battles in the Southland Conference. They've got tremendous talent with Phil Forte and [Juwan] Evans. They're two of the better guards in the Big XII, which means they're two of the better guards in the nation.

"We know our work is cut out for us. We know this is one of the better places to play in college basketball. Historic Gallagher-Iba year in and year out is one of the better places to put your student-athletes in to play. I've been here many times and I think our guys are excited about the challenge and opportunity that this road swing gives us. We have a chance to not just play good competition and challenge ourselves, but it gives us an opportunity to grow together on this road swing."

In UNO's 36-point win over LaGrange, the Privateers hit 48.6 percent of its field goals (34-of-70), including a 21-of-36 performance in the second half (.583) while holding LaGrange to a .359 clip for the contest (23-of-64). Senior forward Erik Thomas led three New Orleans players in double figures offensively with a career-high 31 points while senior Christavious Gill had 13 and junior forward Makur Puou added 10.

Thomas completed a double-double with 10 rebounds to pace the program on the glass and shared team-high steal honors with Gill at three thefts apiece. Senior guard Tevin Broyles headlined the offense with three of the team's 17 assists while Puou and the junior forward tandem of Travin Thibodeaux and Michael Zeno had one blocked shot each.

Oklahoma State, meanwhile, enters the contest 2-0 after scoring 102 points in a 37-point, season-opening win over Campbell on Nov. 11 and a 12-point victory over Central Arkansas on Monday evening. Both of those games were in Gallagher-Iba Arena. As a team, the Cowboys are averaging 102.0 points, 44.5 rebounds, 15.0 assists, 10.0 steals and 5.0 blocks per game while shooting .515 from the field (68-of-132) and .327 from beyond the 3-point arc (18-of-55).

Jawun Evans is one of three OSU standouts averaging at least 20 points per outing with a team-best 28.5 scoring average while Phil Forte and Jeffrey Carroll follow with respective marks of 26.5 and 21.0. Evans also leads the Cowboys with 5.5 assists and 4.0 steals per outing with Carroll pacing the squad with 10.0 rebounds per contest and the duo of Cameron McGriff and Lucas N'Guessan headlining the defense with 1.5 blocks per game each.

"It's going to take a whole-team effort," Slessinger said of his team's chances to defeat the Cowboys. "It's going to take everyone pulling the rope the same way and going in to have a great night. We're going to have to guard at a high rate. We're going to have to rebound at a high rate and we have to execute offensively.

"They're so talented offensively and they're really good at what they do defensively – pressuring the ball, getting out in passing lanes and all the things they did so successfully when [Underwood] was at Stephen F. Austin. He brought that here and that's what the people here in Stillwater love. They made this place great with Mr. Iba and Coach [Eddie] Sutton. It's what makes this place special."

Wednesday's game marks the 12^th time New Orleans and Oklahoma State will meet on the hardwood, and the Cowboys hold a 3-8 advantage in the all-time series. Six of those games have come in Stillwater where OSU has won each time, including the last meeting when the Cowboys came away with a 95-47 victory on Nov. 29, 2001. Oklahoma State emerged victorious in the last four head-to-head matchups with UNO's last victory coming in a 55-54 decision on Dec. 22, 1988, in Lakefront Arena.

Following the three-game road swing, New Orleans' next home game is slated for Friday, Nov. 25, when it plays host to Florida College at 7 p.m. in Lakefront Arena. For tickets to that game, and future Privateer Athletics events, contact the UNO Athletics Ticket Office over the phone at (504) 280-GAME (4263) or via the Internet by clicking HERE.