Men's Basketball To Host Williams Baptist On Wednesday

NEW ORLEANS – The University of New Orleans men's basketball team will look to give its fans an early Christmas present in the form of a victory when the Privateers play host to Williams Baptist on Wednesday, Dec. 21, in Lakefront Arena. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m.

The Privateers enter the ballgame looking to snap a three-game skid after sandwiching an 83-49 loss at Northwestern on Dec. 11 and a 76-66 defeat at Utah State on Monday night in Logan, Utah, around a 76-71 home loss to Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday afternoon in New Orleans. The good news for the UNO faithful is the game is at home, where the Privateers are 3-1 so far this season and 43-21 under sixth-year head coach Mark Slessigner.

"We're happy to be back in Lakefront Arena for sure and we'll have a tough challenge against Williams Baptist," Slessinger said. "They're a team that will be well-prepared for us. We know we're going to see a ton of zone and they're going to be very well coached. It'll be a real battle for us."

The Privateers enter the ballgame 4-6 on the year and will try to return to the form that saw them win three in a row at one point with wins of 90-63 over Florida College on Nov. 25, 74-59 over Tulane on Nov. 29 and 70-54 at Washington State on Dec. 3.

As a team, New Orleans is averaging 71.7 points, 36.4 rebounds, 15.5 assists, 8.0 steals and 3.4 blocks per game. Senior forward Erik Thomas leads the Privateers offensively with 20.4 points per game, followed by senior guard Christavious Gill with an average of 13.1 and the tandem of junior forward Travin Thibodeaux and senior guard Nate Frye with marks of 8.0. Thomas also paces the team with 8.3 rebounds a night while Gill leads the squad with 3.4 assists and 1.8 steals per game. Junior forward Makur Puou headlines the defense with 1.5 blocked shots per contest.

New Orleans is connecting at a .454 clip from the field, hitting 259-of-570 shots from the floor and 46-of-143 tries from beyond the 3-point arc (.322), while allowing opponents to shoot .443 overall (267-of-603) and .323 from 3-point land (71-of-220). Privateer foes are averaging 76.0 points, 35.2 rebounds, 14.1 assists, 8.7 steals and 3.9 blocks so far in 2016-17.

Williams Baptist, meanwhile, comes to town 6-5 on the season and riding the crest of a two-game winning streak after winning 88-53 at Spring Hill on Saturday and 88-67 at SUNO on Monday.

As a team, the Eagles are averaging 76.8 points, 36.4 rebounds, 11.3 assists, 8.2 steals and 2.1 blocks per game. E.J. Rucker, who has played in just two games to date, leads the Williams Baptist offense with 24.5 points per game while Reece Dunlap and Demoine Brown follow with respective scoring averages of 10.5 and 9.5. Marcus Springer and Abel Yekeh share team-high rebounding honors with 5.8 boards per outing apiece and Springer also paces the squad with 1.3 blocks per game. Brown averages a team-best 2.9 assists per contest with Dunlap headlining the defense with 1.8 steals per night.

Williams Baptist is hitting 46.7 percent of its shots from the field, connecting on 304-of-651 field goal attempts, including a 68-of-220 showing from beyond the 3-point line (.309). The Eagle defense has allowed opponents to post a 43.5 shooting percentage (286-of-657) and a 32.7 clip from 3-point land (81-of-248) and their foes are averaging 74.9 points, 34.7 rebounds, 15.2 assists, 8.2 steals and 3.3 blocks per game.

Wednesday's game between New Orleans and Williams Baptist marks just the second meeting between the two teams on the hardwood and the Privateers took the inaugural meeting with an 83-66 victory last Dec. 12 in Lakefront Arena. In that game, Gill led three UNO student-athletes in double figures with a then-career high 28 points.

The contest against the Eagles is the first of a three-game homestand as UNO will open Southland Conference action on Dec. 29 against Abilene Christian before squaring off against league foe 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.