Men's Basketball To Play At Tulsa On Saturday

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TULSA, Okla. – The University of New Orleans men's basketball team will look to pick up its first road win of the 2016-17 campaign on Saturday, Nov. 18, when the Privateers take on the Tulsa Golden Hurricane in the Donald W. Reynolds Center. The contest is slated to tipoff at 3 p.m. and will be broadcast live on ESPN3.

Both teams enter the contest looking to put Wednesday losses in its rearview mirrors as UNO dropped a 117-72 decision at Oklahoma State while the Golden Hurricane fell at Wichita State, 80-53. At 1-1, the Privateers will look to post their first winning record after three contests since the 2010-11 season but will try and do so against a Golden Hurricane squad that is hungry for its first win after falling in its first two outings.

"We've worked over the last 48 hours to address a lot of the areas we weren't very good at against Oklahoma State, which were a lot," New Orleans head coach Mark Slessinger said. "We know that was not our best day. We have a lot of new pieces that are coming together that are learning to play together, but we are not going to make excuses.

"Our guys are in a good position to come out, compete and put a good day together. This will be a different team, a different matchup. It's one similar to some opponents we've had before that have been good matchups for us. The guys are refocused and excited to put Wednesday night behind us with a win."

As a team, New Orleans enters Saturday's game averaging 87.5 points, 38.0 rebounds, 15.5 assists, 9.0 steals and 5.0 blocks per game. Senior forward Erik Thomas leads three Privateers averaging double figures offensively with 24.5 points per game followed by senior guard Christavious Gill at 11.5 and junior guard Jorge Rosa at 10.5. Thomas also paces the team with 7.5 rebounds per game and junior forward Makur Puou headlines the defense with 3.0 blocked shots per outing. Gill, meanwhile, leads the Privateers with 3.5 assists and 2.0 steals per game.

New Orleans is connecting at a .462 clip from the field, hitting 60-of-130 shots from the floor and 13-of-36 tries from beyond the 3-point arc (.361), while allowing opponents to shoot .452 overall (61-of-135) and .321 from 3-point land (17-of-53). Privateer foes are averaging 92.0 points, 42.5 rebounds, 16.0 assists, 8.5 steals and 3.5 blocks so far in 2015-16.

"We've got to guard at a much higher rate," Slessinger said. "We've got to guard and defend. We've got to limit them to one shot and really rebound the ball at a high rate again. The athleticism and size of Tulsa are going to be a challenge for us. Offensively, we've got to do a better job of getting deeper into the shot clock in the half-court offense and not settling for the first open shot. We need to wait for the best shot. Our guys are aware of that. We did that a lot of times in our scrimmages and in our first game."

Tulsa, meanwhile, is averaging 63.0 points, 33.0 rebounds, 10.0 assists, 5.0 steals and 2.0 blocks per game. Junior Etou leads a balanced Tulsa offense with 13.0 points per game while Pat Birt and Corey Henderson both average 12.0 points per contest. Etou also paces the team with 9.5 rebounds per game with Will Magnay leading the way defensively with 1.0 blocks per outing. Birt headlines the squad with 4.0 assists per game while he, Henderson T.K. Edogi and Sterling Taplin share team-high steal honors with 1.0 thefts per game apiece.

The Golden Hurricane are hitting 36.6 percent of its shots from the field, connecting on 41-of-112 field goal attempts, including a 16-of-50 showing from beyond the 3-point line (.320). The Tulsa defense has allowed opponents to post a 48.7 shooting percentage (57-of-117) and a 33.3 clip from 3-point land (15-of-45). Golden Hurricane opponents are averaging 82.0 points, 41.5 rebounds, 16.0 assists, 6.0 steals and 4.0 blocks per game.

"They're a much better team than their record shows," Slessinger added. "A game at Wichita State is never easy. That's a very difficult place to play. This is a team loaded with talent. It's a team loaded with athleticism, guys that can play multiple positions and they can shoot the ball very well. They're going to be a very good team as the year progresses."

Saturday's game between New Orleans and Tulsa marks the first time the two teams will meet on the hardwood. The Privateers are 39-40 against team's currently in the American Athletic Conference, sporting marks of 5-0 vs UCF (Central Florida), 10-5 vs South Florida, 23-24 vs Tulane, 1-3 vs Houston and 0-8 vs Memphis.

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.