Men's Basketball Wins 5th Straight With 87-72 Victory At Incarnate Word

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SAN ANTONIO – Taking the court once again as a program on a mission, the University of New Orleans men's basketball team overcame a bit of a slow start to roll past Southland Conference foe Incarnate Word, 87-72, on Saturday afternoon in the McDermott Convocation Center.

After falling behind 6-0 early on and not getting their first field goal until the 2:08 had ticked off the clock, the Privateers rattled off seven consecutive points, trailed just once the rest of the way and held the lead over the final 29:20 of the contest. All five Privateer starters finished with double-digit scoring totals, including a game-high 28 by senior forward Erik Thomas (IDS/Business) while junior forward Travin Thibodeaux (IDS/Pre-Dentistry) tallied a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
 
The win was the fifth in a row for UNO, which improved to 9-6 overall and remained perfect in SLC action at 4-0. Incarnate Word, meanwhile, fell to 6-9 on the year and 1-3 in conference play.
 
"I'm so proud of how the games played throughout the game," Privateers head coach Mark Slessinger said. "They played hard and they played unselfish basketball. I'm blessed to be the coach here. I'm blessed to be able to coach these guys day in and day out. For them to buy in to the bigger picture of playing for our University, playing for our city and playing to put this once proud program back on the map – I'm so thankful and humbled by that, and today was just a little picture of that."
 
New Orleans connected on more than half of its shots in each half, going 18-of-33 in the first half (.545) and 15-of-26 in the second (.577), to finish with a 55.9 field goal percentage (33-of-59). The Privateers used their size advantage to hold a slight 33-31 rebounding advantage and outscored the Cardinals in the paint, 50-28.
 
Incarnate Word answered with a 48.2 shooting percentage (27-of-56), including a .519 clip in the first half (14-of-27) and hit 7-of-22 tries from beyond the 3-point arch. The UNO defense, however, forced 14 turnovers – including eight via steal – and turned the UIW miscues into 26 points.
 
Senior guards Tevin Broyles (IDS/Health Studies) and Christavious Gill (IDS/Behavioral Studies) finished second to Thomas in scoring with 14 points each while junior forward Makur Puou (Political Science) added a Division I career-high 12. Thibodeaux led the team with five points and two blocks while sharing the team lead in steals with Puou at two apiece.
 
"When you look at it, we had multiple guys in double figures," Slessinger said. "They're sharing the ball and they don't care who scores. Erik had a bad night the other day, especially in the first half, and he and I talked about that in the bowels of the Montagne Center. We thought he had a bad night and he finished with a double-double. That must mean he's a pretty dadgum good player.
 
"We have good, solid depth – guys that are ready to come in at any point. Nate was the hero the other day against Corpus and he had a tough game today. He didn't run the team at his best and I'm sure he's mad at himself. But this is a good sign. It's a sign that we have good depth and we're doing things the right way."
 
The Cardinals converted the first three field goals of the ballgame before New Orleans scored the next seven points to go up by one. The back-and-forth theme continued for the first half of the opening stanza as the two teams sat deadlocked at 24-all with 9:42 to go before the break. From there, however, the Privateers rattled off 12 unanswered points over the next 3:19 and led by 13 at 42-29 with 2:46 on the clock. Incarnate Word, however, scored eight of the final 10 points of the period to make it a 44-38 ballgame as the teams headed to the locker room for halftime.
 
New Orleans scored the first six points of the second half to extend the lead back to a dozen only to see the Cardinals rally to make it a four-point affair at 54-50 with 15:52 to play. The Privateers tried to pull away on several occasions, but Incarnate Word kept answering and it remained a four-point affair 8:40 later at 68-64. Following a Thomas layup and a free throw by Incarnate Word's Simi Socks, UNO scored nine of the next 11 points to take control of the ballgame and extended the lead over the final two-plus minutes.
 
"This is a hard place to play," Slessinger added. "It's hard to create atmosphere. I told the guys today, 'You have to set your own thermostat because we're either going to set the temperature hot or cold.' In the first half, we kept fluctuating. Then we got into a grind in the middle of the second half and then we were able to get thing back hot and keep it going. We were able to pound the ball inside on them and execute the things we wanted to.
 
"We had a 13-point lead in the first half and we had another 10- or 15-point lead in the second half, and guys let off the gas and took a couple of bad shots. Offensive shot discipline has worked for this group. Once we figured that out, we were able to stretch it out with good shot selection and played well down the stretch."
 
Jalin Hart led the Cardinals with 19 points with Socks and Shawn Johnson following with 18 and 14, respectively. Miles Banks paced Incarnate Word with eight rebounds, Socks added a team-best two steals and Tyler Singleton led the way with five assists. Johnson headlined the UIW defense with two blocked shots.
 
The Privateers return to action on Thursday, Jan. 12, when they play host to preseason SLC favorite Sam Houston State in Lakefront Arena. The game against the Bearkats is part of a UNO basketball doubleheader as the women's contest will begin at 5:30 p.m. with the men slated to tip things off at 7:45 p.m. For tickets to 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.