Men's Basketball To Host Central Arkansas Saturday On 'Senior Day'

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NEW ORLEANS – The University of New Orleans men's basketball team will look to complete a regular-season sweep and maintain its lead in the Southland Conference race on Saturday, Feb. 18, when the Privateers play host to Central Arkansas at 4 p.m. in Lakefront Arena.

The game will be the team's annual Senior Day game and the guard trio Tevin Broyles, Nate Frye and Christavious Gill along with forward Erik Thomas will be honored with a pregame ceremony. The senior quartet have played vital roles in the team posting a 15-9 overall record to date and a 10-3 showing in league play, and UNO got a bit of good news on Thursday evening when preseason SLC favorite Sam Houston State (18-9, 9-5) dropped an 88-77 decision at Houston Baptist.

Four-time defending Southland champion Stephen F. Austin (14-11, 9-4), however, posted a 70-61 home victory over Lamar last night to move to within a game of the Privateers. While New Orleans will look to build on a three-game winning streak when it plays the Bears tomorrow night and every game is important at this point of the season, it also potentially sets up a very showdown on Thursday, Feb. 23, when the Privateers host SFA.

"We are so happy to be back in beautiful Lakefront Arena in front of our friends and family," UNO head coach Mark Slessinger said. "We are excited to honor our seniors pregame and their contributions to our program. Our mindset is to attack practice one rep and one drill at a time. We want to carry that mindset over to the game and win one possession at a time while continuing to improve."

The Privateers enter the weekend fresh off a 2-0 road trip that saw the team use second-half rallies to defeat McNeese, 69-63, last Thursday in Lake Charles, and Southeastern Louisiana, 60-52, last Saturday in Hammond.

As a team, New Orleans is averaging 72.6 points, 35.8 rebounds, 16.1 assists, 8.1 steals and 3.2 blocks per game. Thomas leads the Privateers offensively with 19.9 points per game, followed by Gill at 11.7 and Frye with a mark of 10.2. Thomas also paces the team with 7.8 rebounds and 1.5 steals a night with junior forward Travin Thibodeaux leading the squad with 3.7 assists per game. Junior forward Makur Puou headlines the defense with 1.1.4 blocked shots per contest.

New Orleans is connecting at a .470 clip from the field, hitting 624-of-1328 shots from the floor and 103-of-315 tries from beyond the 3-point arc (.327), while allowing opponents to shoot .446 overall (606-of-1358) and .320 from 3-point land (157-of-491). Privateer foes are averaging 70.2 points, 32.0 rebounds, 12.8 assists, 8.7 steals and 3.2 blocks so far in 2016-17.

"I have been very pleased with our effort and intensity the past two games," Slessinger said. "We have closed the gap on some areas we needed to defensively and rebounding. We will continue to work offensively to limit turnovers and execute in the half court while being very opportunistic in transition."

Central Arkansas, meanwhile, comes to town 8-19 on the season, 7-7 in Southland action and looking to bounce back from a 96-89 overtime defeat at Nicholls on Thursday evening. The loss to the Colonels snapped a four-game winning streak.

As a team, the Bears are averaging 75.1 points, 35.9 rebounds, 15.0 assists, 5.6 steals and 2.7 blocks per game. Jordan Howard leads three Bears averaging double-digit scoring totals with a 20.2 point-per-game average while Derreck Brooks and Mathieu Kamba follow with respective scoring marks of 14.5 and 13.6. Howard also paces the team in steals with 1.2 thefts per outing and Brooks leads the squad in rebounds, assists and blocked shots with 7.2 boards, 3.2 dimes and 1.1 swats per outing.

Central Arkansas is hitting 44.3 percent of its shots from the field, connecting on 708-of-1598 attempts, including a 193-of-505 showing from beyond the 3-point line (.382). The Bear defense has allowed opponents to post a 46.1 shooting percentage (797-of-1727) and a 38.8 clip from 3-point land (299-of-771) and their foes are averaging 83.6 points, 37.5 rebounds, 18.5 assists, 7.0 steals and 3.1 blocks per game.

"UCA has been as hot of a team as there is in league, winning four in a row before last night's overtime loss at Nicholls," Slessinger added. "They are so good offensively and have some incredible talent. Howard, Kamba and Brooks are as talented as any player in our league. Coach [Russ] Pennell is a guy I have known since I was a junior college coach in Arizona. He can coach at a high level."

Saturday's game between New Orleans and Central Arkansas marks just the seventh meeting between the two teams on the hardwood and the Privateers hold a slight 4-2 advantage in the all-time series. All of those games have come since UNO joined the Southland Conference for the 2013-14 campaign, including a 3-0 mark in Lakefront Arena.

The Privateers won the first-two head-to-head showdowns against the Bears with an 88-79 road decision on Feb. 8, 2014 and an 87-67 home win on Jan. 26, 2015. Central Arkansas sandwiched a 70-67 victory on Feb. 7, 2015, and a 112-77 outcome on Feb. 6, 2016, around a UNO 94-83 home win on Feb. 25, 2016, but the Privateers won in Conway, Ark., back on Jan. 21, 81-63.

For tickets to Privateers' games against Central Arkansas and Stephen F. Austin, 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.