Men's Basketball Travels To Logan To Face Utah State

VIDEO INTERVIEW WITH COACH SLESSINGER | QUOTES
NEW ORLEANS NOTES | UTAH STATE NOTES
LISTEN LIVE | WATCH LIVE | LIVE STATS

NEW ORLEANS – The University of New Orleans men's basketball team will look to snap a two-game skid on Monday, Dec. 19, when the Privateers travel to Logan, Utah, to take on the Aggies of Utah State in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. Tipoff is slated for 8 p.m. (CST) and will be broadcast live on the Mountain West Conference Network.
 
The contest against the Aggies is the midpoint of a tough three-game stretch over five days for UNO as the team play Louisiana-Lafayette at home on Saturday, traveled most of the day on Sunday and will play at Utah State on Monday before heading back to New Orleans on Tuesday before hosting Williams Baptist on Wednesday in Lakefront Arena.
 
"It's a little bit different here temperature wise," UNO head coach Mark Slessinger said. "It was 80 degrees last night in New Orleans, and I think the low for today here is three. We literally traveled halfway across the country from New Orleans to Logan, Utah, so it's a long travel day.
 
"We [had] a tough game last night. It was a disappointing loss. We thought we played well in a lot of aspects, but we made some mistakes down the stretch that kept us from a victory. We'll go back, reteach and learn tonight and tomorrow, and then we'll face a very, very tough Utah State team in one of the toughest environments that I've ever coached in here at the Spectrum."
 
The Privateers head to Logan, Utah, 4-5 on the young season and looking to snap a two-game skid after dropping an 83-49 decision at Northwestern on Dec. 11 and coming up just short in a 76-71 home loss to UL-Lafayette on Dec. 17.
 
As a team, New Orleans is averaging 72.3 points, 36.8 rebounds, 15.6 assists, 7.7 steals and 3.8 blocks per game. Senior forward Erik Thomas leads the Privateers offensively with 20.3 points per game, followed by senior guard Christavious Gill with an average of 13.2 and junior forward Travin Thibodeaux with a mark of 8.3.
 
Thomas also paces the team with 8.2 rebounds a night and shares the steals lead with Gill at 1.6 thefts per outing apiece. Gill leads the squad with 3.6 assists per game and junior forward Makur Puou headlines the defense with 1.7 blocked shots per contest.
 
New Orleans is connecting at a .460 clip from the field, hitting 235-of-511 shots from the floor and 44-of-131 tries from beyond the 3-point arc (.336), while allowing opponents to shoot .438 overall (243-of-555) and .322 from 3-point land (65-of-202). Privateer foes are averaging 76.0 points, 35.0 rebounds, 14.1 assists, 9.2 steals and 3.9 blocks so far in 2016-17.
 
"We know that we're going to have to matchup very tough against them and be very good defensively," Slessinger said. "We're going to have to execute the things that we've been doing. We have to keep our percentage up, which is something I was pleased with [against UL-Lafayette]. We shot 50 percent, but had a hair too many turnovers and that hurt us. If we can clean that thing up, we'll be a lot more efficient offensively and play pretty well."
 
Utah State enters the matchup 5-4 on the season and looking to build on the momentum of an 80-79 overtime win at Utah Valley its last time out back on Dec. 10. That win snapped a four-game skid.
 
As a team, the Aggies are averaging 72.6 points, 36.3 rebounds, 15.7 assists, 6.1 steals and 3.3 blocks per game. Jalen Moore leads a balanced Utah State offense with 16.3 points per game while Shane Rector, Koby McEwen and Norbert Janicek follow with respective scoring averages of 12.2, 11.9 and 9.8. Alexis Dargenton leads the way in rebounding and blocked shots with 4.9 boards and 1.0 swats per game with Rector headlines the unit with 3.6 assists and 1.9 steals per outing.
 
Utah State is hitting 46.7 percent of its shots from the field, connecting on 241-of-516 field goal attempts, including a 62-of-188 showing from beyond the 3-point line (.330). The Aggie defense has allowed opponents to post a 39.3 shooting percentage (215-of-547) and a 30.1 clip from 3-point land (68-of-226) and their foes are averaging 68.9 points, 37.0 rebounds, 14.1 assists, 6.6 steals and 2.4 blocks per game.
 
"They're incredibly dynamic offensively," Slessinger added. "They run tons of stuff. Tim Duryea is a guy that was a long-time assistant here for Stew Morrill – one of the best coaches in college basketball, in my opinion. Tim has picked up right where Coach Morrill left off. He's a guy I have known for years and have a ton of respect for. We're very lucky to come out and get a great game with them. They've got a big offensive package and a lot of skilled guys."
 
Monday's game between New Orleans and Utah State marks just the third meeting between the two teams on the hardwood and the first time the two teams have squared off since the 1977-78 season. The upcoming game will obviously be the first time UNO will face Utah State under Slessinger's direction.
 
Both teams have a win on its opponent's home court as Utah State earned a 96-90 victory on Feb. 21, 1975, in the UNO Human Performance Center and the Privateers leaving Logan on Feb. 28, 1976 with a 79-75 victory over the Aggies.
 
The upcoming game against Williams Baptist is the first of a three-game homestand for the Privateers as UNO will open Southland Conference action on Dec. 29 against Abilene Christian before squaring off against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Dec. 31. For tickets those games, as well as 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.