Men's Basketball Looks To Keep Things Going On Thursday Against McNeese

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NEW ORLEANS – In what could best be described as uncharted water in recent Privateer history, the University of New Orleans men's basketball team will play the role of hunted rather than hunter when the squad takes the court on Thursday, Jan. 25, when it plays host to Southland Conference foe McNeese at 7 p.m. in Lakefront Arena.

While the uniforms will not have any visible change, the student-athletes and coaching staff both realize that the team will don a bullseye on its back in each of the final 11 games of the regular season if the Privateers can maintain their current pace. At 11-7 overall and 6-1 in SLC play, UNO enters the ballgame in sole possession of first place in the league standings and will take the court with a head of steam after winning seven of its last eight games dating back to a 91-74 victory over Williams Baptist in the final non-conference contest on Dec. 21.

"We've got a big target on our back," New Orleans head coach Mark Slessinger said. "Everybody is shooting for us. This is a very hard league to win in. Night in and night out, it's a great challenge and we'll have that again this week with a game here on Thursday night before we head out to play at Stephen F. Austin.

"We know that we've got to guard at a high level. We're going to have to contain dribble penetration. We're going to have to rebound at a high level and continue to be solid. We need to be in the right places at the right times. There are a lot of things that we've been working on this week in preparation for this game. We're excited to see that come into play tomorrow night."

Riding the crest of a two-game winning streak after posting a 72-64 home win over Houston Baptist on Thursday and an 81-63 victory at Central Arkansas on Saturday, New Orleans enters Thursday's showdown averaging 73.9 points, 35.9 rebounds, 16.2 assists, 7.8 steals and 3.5 blocks per game.

Senior forward Erik Thomas leads the Privateers offensively with 19.9 points per game, followed by senior guards Christavious Gill with an average of 12.2 and Nate Frye with a mark of 12.0. Thomas also paces the team with 7.9 rebounds a night with junior forward Travin Thibodeaux leading the squad with 3.6 assists per game. Gill holds team-high steal honors with 1.6 thefts per outing and junior forward Makur Puou headlines the defense with 1.4 blocked shots per contest.

New Orleans is connecting at a .472 clip from the field, hitting 477-of-1010 shots from the floor and 77-of-243 tries from beyond the 3-point arc (.317), while allowing opponents to shoot .449 overall (463-of-1031) and .315 from 3-point land (116-of-368). Privateer foes are averaging 72.4 points, 32.1 rebounds, 13.2 assists, 8.7 steals and 3.1 blocks so far in 2016-17.

"The guys really believe in each other," Slessinger said. "They've really bought in. They believe in playing hard and playing unselfishly, and they're beginning to really develop a great mindset of giving up some good shots to get great shots offensively. That's been reflected in our percentages and our assists. They've done a really good job with that.

"Defensively, we're having longer stretches where we're playing focused, we're playing hard and we're continuing to rebound at a good rate. All of these things are feeding into each other and our confidence."

McNeese, meanwhile, comes to town 6-12 on the season, 3-4 in Southland action and looking to bounce back from a 78-65 home loss to Northwestern State on Saturday afternoon in Burton Coliseum.

As a team, the Cowboys are averaging 69.8 points, 34.3 rebounds, 11.2 assists, 5.6 steals and 3.0 blocks per game. Jamaya Burr leads a balanced offense with an 11.3 point-per-game average while Kalob Ledoux, Jarren Greenwood and Stephen Ugochukwu follow with respective scoring marks of 10.8, 10.0 and 9.4. Burr also paces the team in assists and steals with 4.1 dimes and 1.5 thefts per outing. Ugochukwu leads the squad in rebounding with 5.2 boards per outing and LaBarrius Hill headlines the defense with 1.1 blocks per contest.

???????McNeese is hitting 40.5 percent of its shots from the field, connecting on 437-of-1080 attempts, including a 122-of-374 showing from beyond the 3-point line (.326). The Cowboy defense has allowed opponents to post a 44.3 shooting percentage (495-of-1117) and a 33.4 clip from 3-point land (117-of-350) and their foes are averaging 79.3 points, 43.4 rebounds, 15.6 assists, 5.9 steals and 3.8 blocks per game.

"We're excited to have McNeese coming in, a team that has really developed and come on strong," Slessinger said. "They've got a great backcourt with Jamaya Burr, a four-year starter that I think is a very talented floor leader, James Harvey, who is a great shooter, and Kalob Ledoux, an incredible freshman. They've got a lot of firepower on the perimeter and a very good anchor inside in Steven Ugochukwu.

"They're a great-coached team. Dave Simmons and I worked together for six years at Northwestern [State]. He's as good of an in-game coach and as good of a coach as there is. We have a ton of respect for him. It should be a great game. We expect a great crowd and great energy in this great building."

Thursday's game between New Orleans and McNeese marks the 16^th meeting between the two teams on the hardwood and the Privateers hold a slight 8-7 advantage in the all-time series. Since joining the Southland Conference for the 2013-14 campaign, UNO is 2-4 against the Cowboys with both wins coming in Lakefront Arena.

The Privateers won the first head-to-head showdown against McNeese with an 80-66 home decision on Nov. 29, 1975. New Orleans is 6-3 against the Cowboys in non-conference play, including a four-game winning streak from Jan. 4, 2014, through Jan. 3, 2000.  UNO lost the first three SLC meetings vs McNeese but have won two of the last three; claiming an 81-71 victory on Feb. 9, 2015, and 76-64 on Jan. 30, 2016 before falling in Lake Charles, La., 87-76 on Feb. 11, 2016.

Thursday's game is the first of two regular-season meetings between UNO and McNeese during the 2016-17 regular season as the two teams will square off again on Feb. 9 in Burton Coliseum.

"We've got to guard them," Slessinger added when asked what the key to Thursday's game may be. "The whole thing for us is defense. When we guard well, we play well. We've got to continue to do that. We've got to rebound at a high rate and not give them an easy second-chance shot. We've going to have to contain them and not let them get going from the 3. They're a very good shooting team from the 3 when they can get rolling."

Following the game against the Cowboys, UNO will hit the road for a two-game swing with contests at Stephen F. Austin on Jan. 28 and at Abilene Christian on Feb. 1 before returning home to face Nicholls on Saturday, Feb. 4, in Lakefront Arena. For tickets to that game, as well as future New Orleans Athletics events, contact the UNO Athletics Ticket Office over the phone at (504) 280-GAME (4263) or via the Internet by clicking HERE.