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NEW ORLEANS – The University of New Orleans men's basketball team will look to play its best basketball down the stretch and that run begins on Saturday, Feb. 27, when the Privateers head to West Texas to take on Southland Conference foe Abilene Christian in Moody Coliseum.
Tipoff is scheduled for approximately 4 p.m. (CST) and is part of a doubleheader as the two schools' women's teams will get the day going with a 2 p.m. contest. The game against the Wildcats is the third of a four-game road swing for the Privateers and the first of a key four-game stretch to end the regular season. UNO will play at Nicholls on Monday, Feb. 29 before closing out the regular season at home with games against Southeastern Louisiana and Northwestern State on March 3 and 5, respectively.
"It's a short turnaround for us," UNO head coach
Mark Slessinger said. "Having to move the Southeastern game back a day makes it even harder. We have to figure out a way to get over the hump. We have four more games in 10 days and we have to play well in each one of them heading into the Southland Conference Tournament."
New Orleans heads to Abilene 9-16 on the year, 5-9 in Southland Conference action and looking to bounce back from a 93-81 loss to Southeastern Louisiana on Wednesday night at the University Center.
As a team, the Privateers are averaging 74.3points, 38.6 rebounds, 13.5 assists, 8.3 steals and 2.6 blocks per game. Junior guard
Christavious Gill leads a balanced UNO offense with 13.8 points per game while junior forward
Erik Thomas, junior guard
Nate Frye and senior forward
Kevin Hill with respective scoring averages of 11.5, 9.8 and 9.6. Thomas paces the team with 7.1 rebounds per game and sophomore wing
Michael Zeno headlines the defense with 0.6 blocked shots per outing. Frye leads the Privateers with 3.3 assists per game and Gill has a team-best 1.8 steals-per-contest average.
New Orleans is connecting at a .413 clip from the field, hitting 631-of-1527 shots from the floor and at a .331 mark from beyond the 3-point arc (128-of-387), while allowing opponents to shoot .446 overall (648-of-1452) and .349 from 3-point land (183-of-524). Privateer foes are averaging 77.1 points, 38.0 rebounds, 14.6 assists, 8.1 steals and 4.8 blocks so far in 2015-16.
Abilene Christian, meanwhile, enters Saturday's contest 12-15 on the year, 7-7 in Southland Conference play and looking to build on the momentum of a 91-80 decision over Southeastern Louisiana on Monday in Moody Coliseum.
As a team, the Wildcats are averaging 71.3 points, 31.7 rebounds, 13.6 assists, 7.7 steals and 2.5 blocks per game. Jaylen Franklin is the lone Abilene Christian player to average double figures offensively with a 15.8 point-per-game clip, but four others average at least 7.0 points per game as Jaren Lewis sits at 9.0, Parker Wentz and Duran Porter add 8.9 each and Jovan Crnic sports a 7.3 clip. Lewis paces the squad with 5.7 rebounds per game while Porter has 0.9 blocked shots per contest. Jalen Little headlines the squad with 4.7 assists per outing and Franklin paces the defense with 1.8 steals per game.
Abilene Christian is hitting 45.0 percent of its shots from the field, connecting on 670-of-1489 field goal attempts, including a 175-of-481 showing from beyond the 3-point line (.364). The Wildcats' defense has allowed opponents to post a 48.1 shooting percentage (697-of-1448) and a 34.5 clip from 3-point land (149-of-432). Abilene Christian opponents are averaging 73.1 points, 33.4 rebounds, 12.6 assists, 4.8 steals and 3.1 blocks per game.
Saturday's game between New Orleans and Abilene Christian marks just the third meeting between the two teams on the hardwood and the Privateers hold a perfect 2-0 advantage in the all-time series.
Both of the games have come since UNO joined the Southland Conference prior to the 2013-14 season. New Orleans posted an 87-81 win over the Wildcats on Jan. 9, 2014, and followed that up with a 75-55 victory on Feb. 28, 2015. Both of those games were played in Lakefront Arena.
Tickets UNO's final two home games of the 2015-16 basketball season and future Privateer sporting events can be purchased by clicking
HERE or by calling the UNO Athletics Ticket Office at (504) 280-GAME (4263).
--www.UNOPrivateers.com--