Men's Basketball To Play Wednesday At Southeastern Louisiana

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NEW ORLEANS – Fresh off a 102-99 road win over Northwestern State, the University of New Orleans men's basketball team will look to keep the ball rolling when the Privateers head to Hammond, Louisiana, to face Southland Conference foe Southeastern Louisiana on Wednesday, Feb. 24, in the University Center. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m.

Both teams enter the midweek matchup with identical 5-8 record in league play and Wednesday's game is the first of two contests between UNO and Southeastern remaining on the regular-season schedule as the squads will square off again on March 3 in Lakefront Arena. Those two games are a pair of five remaining games on top for the Privateers, who are fighting for seeding in the upcoming Southland Conference Tournament, where the winner will receive the league's automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.

"They've been excited about the opportunity to go to Katy to compete for an opportunity to make the NCAA Tournament," UNO head coach Mark Slessinger said. "They're very aware of what an opportunity like that does for not only our program but our University, which needs and deserves good news. No matter what, that's the overarching goal. We're working every day to try and prepare to get hot in Katy and make a run."

At 9-15 on the year, the Privateers are averaging 74.0 points, 38.6 rebounds, 13.7 assists, 8.3 steals and 2.7 blocks per game. Junior guard Christavious Gill leads a balanced UNO offense with 13.5 points per game while junior forward Erik Thomas, junior guard Nate Frye and senior forward Kevin Hill with respective scoring averages of 11.5, 9.4 and 9.3. Thomas paces the team with 7.1 rebounds per game and Hill headlines the defense with 0.7 blocked shots per outing. Frye leads the Privateers with 3.3 assists per game and Gill has a team-best 1.9 steals-per-contest average.

New Orleans is connecting at a .414 clip from the field, hitting 603-of-1455 shots from the floor and at a .340 mark from beyond the 3-point arc (123-of-362), while allowing opponents to shoot .441 overall (614-of-1392) and .337 from 3-point land (170-of-505). Privateer foes are averaging 76.4 points, 38.0 rebounds, 14.4 assists, 8.2 steals and 4.8 blocks so far in 2015-16.

Southeastern Louisiana, meanwhile, enters Tuesday's contest 7-19 on the year, 5-8 in Southland Conference play and looking to bounce back from a 91-80 loss at Abilene Christian on Sunday afternoon. Prior to that game, the Lions had won four of their last five games.

As a team, the Lions are averaging 70.5 points, 33.9 rebounds, 13.8 assists, 6.3 steals and 2.3 blocks per game. Zay Jackson is the lone SU player to average double figures offensively with a 12.8 point-per-game clip, but seven others average at least 7.7 points a game including Jordan Capps and Joshua Filmore with identical 8.7 marks. Capps paces the squad with 5.5 rebounds and 0.8 blocked shots per game. Jackson headlines the squad with 4.8 assists and 1.5 steals per outing.

Southeastern Louisiana is hitting 45.2 percent of its shots from the field, connecting on 649-of-1435 field goal attempts, including a 177-of-505 showing from beyond the 3-point line (.350). The Lions' defense has allowed opponents to post a 46.6 shooting percentage (677-of-1453) and a 40.7 clip from 3-point land (221-of-543). SLU opponents are averaging 76.9 points, 35.3 rebounds, 15.8 assists, 6.4 steals and 3.8 blocks per game.

"After we made some adjustments offensively, that's changed things for us," Slessinger said of his team's performance of late. "We've been better in transition and we've scored the ball much better. Hopefully we can keep that going. I'm very blessed to coach these kids. I'm proud of them. They work their tail off, keep good attitudes and keep doing the right things. All we can do is keep grinding, prepare for Southeastern Louisiana and another hard road game. This will be the second of four road games in a row, so we have our work cut out for us."

Wednesday's game between New Orleans and Southeastern Louisiana marks the 12th meeting between the two teams on the hardwood and the Privateers hold a perfect 11-0 advantage in the all-time series.

UNO is 5-0 against SLU in Hammond, including a 74-73 nailbiter last Feb. 23 in the University Center. The Privateers are 4-0 against the Lions since joining the Southland Conference prior to the 2013-14 season. All four of those games have come under Slessinger.

The series dates back to Jan. 24, 1974, when New Orleans earned a 70-67 victory in the Human Performance Center. The Privateers' road wins prior ot last year's victory were 65-62 on Jan. 6, 1975, 65-60 on Dec. 16, 1981, 58-47 on Dec. 8, 2001 and 90-85 on Jan. 30, 2014. The game in Hammond is the first of two games between UNO and Southeastern Louisiana as they squads will face off again on March 3 in Lakefront Arena.

The game at Southeastern Louisiana will be the second of a four-game road swing for the Privateers as UNO will play at Abilene Christian on Feb. 27 and at Nicholls on Feb. 29. From there, New Orleans will close out the regular season with home contests against the Lions and Northwestern State on March 3 and 5, respectively. Tickets to those games and future Privateer sporting events can be purchased by clicking HERE or by calling the UNO Athletics Ticket Office at (504) 280-GAME (4263).