Men's Basketball Packs 3-Game Streak For Southland Road Trip To Lamar

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NEW ORLEANS – The University of New Orleans men's basketball team will look to keep a good thing going when the Privateers travel to Beaumont, Texas, to take on Southland Conference foe Lamar on Thursday, Jan. 5, in the Montagne Center. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. and the contest will be broadcast live on ESPN3.

New Orleans heads to the Lone Star state with a head of steam after winning three-straight games to stand at 7-6 overall and 2-0 in league play after posting a 75-66 win over Abilene Christian on Dec. 29 and outlasting Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 73-72 in overtime, on New Year's Eve. The conference record marks the program's first 2-0 start since joining the SLC for the 2013-14 campaign and the team's first overall 2-0 conference showing since 2006-07 when the Privateers were members of the Sun Belt.

"We've got a huge Texas swing on tap this week," UNO head coach Mark Slessinger said. "First we've got to face Lamar and head coach Tic Price, the former head coach here who I have a ton of respect for. There are a lot of commonalities on our staff and teams. It'll be a dog fight. They had a really good non-conference run.

"It'll be as tough of a two-game road swing as we will see. We're anxious to get going. We're anxious to get better this week. We're not going to be satisfied with where we're at. We've got a long way to go. We've got 16 more miles to run in this 18-mile race."

As a team, New Orleans is averaging 73.5 points, 36.6 rebounds, 16.4 assists, 8.1 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 Nate Frye with an average of 13.4 and Christavious Gill with a mark of 12.5. Thomas also paces the team with 8.1 rebounds a night with junior forward Travin Thibodeaux leading the squad with 3.5 assists per game. Thomas and Gill share team-high steal honors with 1.7 thefts per outing, and junior forward Makur Puou headlines the defense with 1.3 blocked shots per contest.

New Orleans is connecting at a .467 clip from the field, hitting 346-of-741 shots from the floor and 58-of-183 tries from beyond the 3-point arc (.317), while allowing opponents to shoot .452 overall (345-of-763) and .321 from 3-point land (88-of-274). Privateer foes are averaging 74.8 points, 32.8 rebounds, 13.9 assists, 9.3 steals and 3.3 blocks so far in 2016-17.

Lamar, meanwhile, enters the ballgame 9-5 on the season, 1-0 in Southland action and with a head of steam after rattling off four consecutive victories. The Cardinals wrapped non-conference action with home wins of 82-65 over Liberty on Dec. 19, 126-75 over Arlington Baptist on Dec. 21 and 90-63 over Huston-Tillotson on Dec. 29 before downing Central Arkansas, 78-75, on Jan. 2 in Conway, Ark.

As a team, the Cardinals are averaging 81.1 points, 36.8 rebounds, 15.7 assists, 9.1 steals and 2.1 blocks per game. Colton Weisbrod leads a balanced offensive attack with a 14.6 point-per-game average while Nick Garth, Joey Frenchwood and Josh Nzeakor follow with respective scoring marks of 11.9, 9.6 and 8.6. Weisbrod also leads the way in rebounding with 9.6 boards per outing while Frenchwood paces the squad with 5.2 assists per contest. Defensively, Zjori Bosha headlines the unit with 2.3 steals per night with Dorian Chatman leading the club with 0.9 blocks per game.

Lamar is hitting 46.0 percent of its shots from the field, connecting on 396-of-861 field goal attempts, including a 118-of-319 showing from beyond the 3-point line (.370). The Cardinal defense has allowed opponents to post a 47.3 shooting percentage (366-of-773) and a 32.3 clip from 3-point land (75-of-232) and their foes are averaging 71.5 points, 35.6 rebounds, 12.9 assists, 5.4 steals and 5.4 blocks per game.

Thursday's game between New Orleans and Lamar marks the 34^th meeting between the two teams on the hardwood and the Privateers hold a slight 26-7 advantage in the all-time series. Since the Privateers joined the Southland Conference for the 2013-14 season, UNO is 3-1 in head-to-head meetings with the Cardinals and have won the last two showdowns: 72-67 on Jan. 5, 2015, in Lakefront Arena and 68-64 on Jan. 4, 2016, in the Montagne Center.

New Orleans has enjoyed success against the Cardinals both at home and on the road, sporting a 14-2 mark in the Crescent City and a 12-5 showing in road contests. Lamar's last win in the series came in an 89-72 decision on March 6, 2014, in Beaumont, Texas.

Following Thursday's game against the Cardinals, UNO returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 7, when they play at Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas. New Orleans' next home game is slated for Jan. 12 when New Orleans plays host to Sam Houston State in Lakefront Arena. For tickets to that game, 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.