Men's Hoops Can't Keep Up With Olahoma State in 117-72 Loss To Cowboys

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NEW ORLEANS – The University of New Orleans men's basketball team got off to a slow start and had a hard time slowing time a red-hot Oklahoma State squad as the Privateers dropped a 117-72 decision to the homestanding Cowboys on Wednesday evening in Gallagher-Iba Arena.

OSU scored the game's first six points, 14 of the first 20, and 20 of the first 30 as the advantage simply swelled as the game progressed. Things got better for the Privateers in the second half, but the early deficit proved to be too much to overcome as UNO fell to 1-1 on the young campaign. Oklahoma State, meanwhile, improved to 3-0.

"We did very few things at a high level, and we have to get better on all aspects offensively," head coach Mark Slessinger said. "We have to execute at a much higher rate. We have to be able to communicate defensively at a higher rate, which we did not do. We'll get there. This is the first road test of three, and we have to hope that it brings us together, galvanizes us and makes us a lot better of a team."

As a team, the Privateers shot 43.3 percent from the field (26-of-60) and 35.7 percent from beyond the 3-point arc (5-of-14), but 23 turnovers proved costly as the Cowboys turned those miscues into 31 points. Defensively, however, UNO allowed Oklahoma State to connect at a .535 clip from the field (38-of-71), including a .440 showing from downtown (11-of-25). The Cowboys also held a 47-29 rebounding advantage and turned 15 offensive boards into 20 second-chance points.

Senior forward Erik Thomas led the New Orleans offense for the second time in as many games with 18 points off the bench. Fellow reserve Jorge Rosa, a junior guard who transferred in from Indian Hills Community College, was next with 14 points – including three 3-pointers – and senior guard Christavious Gill added 10.

Gill paced the Privateers with five assists and was one of five UNO players to tally a steal, and the tandem of Thomas and junior forward Travin Thibodeaux shared team-high rebounding honors with five apiece. Junior forward Makur Puou headlined New Orleans' defensive effort with five blocked shots.

The Privateers missed their first five shots before Gill converted a layup to make it 6-2 just under three minutes into the contest. Oklahoma State claimed a double-digit lead at 18-8 with 15:13 to play, and following a basket by junior forward Travin Thibodeaux the next time down the floor, the Cowboys used runs of 19-2 and 13-4 to establish the tone for the rest of game.

Trailing 68-36 at the break, UNO had a more efficient performance in the second half but could not find a way to slow down the Cowboys' attack. Oklahoma State's lead grew to as many as 48 twice in the final minutes of the ballgame before redshirt-freshman guard Venjie Wallis connected on a free throw and true freshman forward A.J. Cheeseman scored on a put-back layup over the final 53 seconds to account for the final score.

"Erik was solid again offensively," Slessinger said. "We never really got a rhythm the whole night. We had some good counter and some back-court action that we looked for, and we weren't able to finish those the way we wanted to. Jorge gave us some spark off the bench. He really played solid and did a good job. We're pleased with him, and that's what we expected in bringing him in. We hope he can continue to grow, get better defensively and do the things he needs to do."

Six OSU players posted double-figure scoring outputs and were led by forward Leyton Hammonds, who recorded the game's lone double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds. Jeffrey Carrol was next for the Cowboys offensively with 14 points, followed by Phil Forte and Jawun Evans with 13 apiece while Lindy Waters and Lucas N'Guessan each added 11. Evans led all players with eight assists with the tandem of Carroll and Tavarius Shine chipping in with three steals each.

UNO returns to action on Saturday, Nov. 19 when the Privateers play at Tulsa. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. and the contest will be broadcast live on ESPN3. The contest against the Golden Hurricane is the second of a three-game road swing as New Orleans will play at Southern California on Nov. 22 at 8 p.m.

The Privateers' next home game is scheduled for Friday, Nov. 25, when they play 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.