Men's Hoops To Open Southland Slate On Thursday vs Abilene Christian

NEW ORLEANS NOTES | ABILENE CHRISTIAN NOTES
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NEW ORLEANS – The University of New Orleans men's basketball team will open the Southland Conference portion of its 2016-17 schedule on Thursday, Dec. 29, when the Privateers play host to Abilene Christian in Lakefront Arena with tipoff tentatively slated for 7:45 p.m. (CST). The game is the second half of a UNO hoops doubleheader as the women's team will face Crowley's Ridge in a non-conference contest starting at 5:30 p.m.

The Privateers enter league play 5-6 on the year and looking to build on the momentum of a 91-74 win over Williams Baptist back on Dec. 21. New Orleans is 2-1 in Southland openers since joining the conference for the 2013-14 season and has won its last two league-opening outings with a 72-67 decision over Lamar on Jan. 5, 2015, and a 68-64 victory at Lamar last Jan. 4.

"We are excited to be back off of break and get into the pursuit for a Southland Conference championship," UNO head coach Mark Slessinger said. "We went through a tough non-conference schedule to help prepare us for what I think will be one of the most balanced years in many, many years in this great conference.

As a team, New Orleans is averaging 73.5 points, 36.6 rebounds, 16.5 assists, 8.3 steals and 3.5 blocks per game. Senior forward Erik Thomas leads the Privateers offensively with 20.5 points per game, followed by senior guards Christavious Gill with an average of 12.6 and Nate Frye with a mark of 10.0. Thomas also paces the team with 8.1 rebounds a night with Gill leading the squad with 3.5 assists and 1.7 steals per game. Junior forward Makur Puou headlines the defense with 1.5 blocked shots per contest.

New Orleans is connecting at a .465 clip from the field, hitting 295-of-634 shots from the floor and 53-of-155 tries from beyond the 3-point arc (.342), while allowing opponents to shoot .447 overall (295-of-660) and .326 from 3-point land (78-of-239). Privateer foes are averaging 75.8 points, 34.1 rebounds, 14.1 assists, 8.7 steals and 3.5 blocks so far in 2016-17.

Abilene Christian, meanwhile, comes to town 6-5 on the season and looking to snap a two-game skid after dropping an 88-86 overtime decision at Sacramento State on Dec. 17 and falling 86-51 at San Francisco on Dec. 19.

As a team, the Wildcats are averaging 71.2 points, 33.5 rebounds, 14.2 assists, 7.9 steals and 3.4 blocks per game. Jaren Lewis leads a balanced Abilene Christian offense with 15.5 points per game while Jalone Friday, Jaylen Franklin and Jovan Crnic follow with respective scoring averages of 13.8, 11.4 and 9.0. Lewis also leads the way in rebounding and steals with 6.8 boards and 2.4 thefts per game with Crnic headlining the unit with 3.4 assists per outing and Friday pacing the squad with 1.6 blocked shots per contest.

Abilene Christian is hitting 48.3 percent of its shots from the field, connecting on 290-of-601 field goal attempts, including a 73-of-196 showing from beyond the 3-point line (.372). The Wildcat defense has allowed opponents to post a 42.2 shooting percentage (262-of-621) and a 34.7 clip from 3-point land (85-of-245) and their foes are averaging 70.2 points, 35.4 rebounds, 12.5 assists, 6.5 steals and 2.6 blocks per game.

"Over the last few days, we have been able to look at some aspects that we needed to improve and clean up both offensively and defensively," Slessinger added. "Abilene Christian has a very talented team led by an All-Southland guard in [Jaylen] Franklin. They are very well coached and have a balanced attack."

Thursday's game between New Orleans and Abilene Christian marks just the fourth meeting between the two teams on the hardwood and the Privateers hold a 2-1 advantage in the all-time series. Like the upcoming contest, all three previous head-to-head outings have come since the schools joined the Southland Conference for the 2013-14 season.

Home court advantage has played a major role in the series to date as UNO is 2-0 against ACU in Lakefront Arena with an 87-81 win on Jan. 9, 2014, and 75-55 on Feb. 28, 2015, and 0-1 in Moody Coliseum after falling 87-84 last Feb. 27.

The contest against the Wildcats is the second of a three-game homestand as UNO will squaring off against Southland 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.