Men's Basketball Heads To Lake Charles To Face McNeese

NEW ORLEANS NOTES | McNEESE NOTES
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NEW ORLEANS – The University of New Orleans men's basketball team will open a two-game road swing on Thursday, Feb. 9, when the Privateers head to Lake Charles, La., to take on Southland Conference foe McNeese in Burton Coliseum. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m.

The Privateers enter the game 13-9 on the year, 8-3 in Southland Conference play and fresh off a 78-69 win over Nicholls on Saturday evening in Lakefront Arena. The victory over the Colonels, combined with Abilene Christian's 71-64 win over Sam Houston State earlier that day, put New Orleans into a tie atop the SLC standing with seven regular-season games remaining. The race to maintain the spot and perhaps claim sole possession of the No. 1 spot will not be an easy one, however, and the Privateers will have to succeed in enemy territory as four of the final seven contests will take place on the road.

"I'm glad to be back in first," UNO head coach Mark Slessinger said. "Our guys said it after [Saturday's] game, but we've got a second chance here. We know we've got a tough week ahead of us with two huge in-state games at McNeese – Burton Coliseum is one of the harder places to play in our league – and then go out to Southeastern and play in Hammond against a team that has been very, very good at home this year. We know our work is going to be cut out for us. We got back to work on Monday morning to continue to get better and improve as we go down the final stretch of this league."

As a team, New Orleans is averaging 73.3 points, 35.6 rebounds, 16.5 assists, 8.0 steals and 3.3 blocks per game. Senior forward Erik Thomas leads the Privateers offensively with 20.0 points per game, followed by senior guards Christavious Gill at 11.8 and Nate Frye with a mark of 10.5. Thomas also paces the team with 7.7 rebounds and 1.5 steals a night with junior forward Travin Thibodeaux leading the squad with 3.8 assists per game. Junior forward Makur Puou headlines the defense with 1.1.4 blocked shots per contest.

New Orleans is connecting at a .477 clip from the field, hitting 582-of-1221 shots from the floor and 94-of-286 tries from beyond the 3-point arc (.329), while allowing opponents to shoot .450 overall (560-of-1244) and .325 from 3-point land (148-of-456). Privateer foes are averaging 71.3 points, 31.5 rebounds, 13.2 assists, 8.7 steals and 3.0 blocks so far in 2016-17.

McNeese, meanwhile enters the midweek matchup 7-15 on the season, 4-7 in Southland action and looking to bounce back from a 77-57 loss to Lamar on Saturday afternoon in Beaumont, Texas.

As a team, the Cowboys are averaging 69.5 points, 33.8 rebounds, 10.8 assists, 5.6 steals and 3.1 blocks per game. Jamaya Burr leads a balanced offense with an 11.9 point-per-game average while Stephen Ugochukwu, Kalob Ledoux and Jarren Greenwood follow with respective scoring marks of 10.7, 10.4 and 9.4. Burr also paces the team in assists and steals with 3.8 dimes and 1.3 thefts per outing. Ugochukwu leads the squad in rebounding with 8.2 boards per outing and LaBarrius Hill headlines the defense with 1.1 blocks per contest.

???????McNeese is hitting 41.0 percent of its shots from the field, connecting on 532-of-1299 attempts, including a 146-of-442 showing from beyond the 3-point line (.330). The Cowboy defense has allowed opponents to post a 44.7 shooting percentage (606-of-1356) and a 35.2 clip from 3-point land (150-of-426) and their foes are averaging 79.0 points, 42.6 rebounds, 15.2 assists, 6.1 steals and 3.8 blocks per game.

Thursday's game between New Orleans and McNeese marks the 17th meeting between the two teams on the hardwood and the Privateers hold a slight 9-7 advantage in the all-time series. Since joining the Southland Conference for the 2013-14 campaign, UNO is 3-4 against the Cowboys with all three 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 three of the last four meetings; claiming an 81-71 victory on Feb. 9, 2015, and 76-64 on Jan. 30, 2016, falling in Lake Charles, La., 87-76 on Feb. 11, 2016, and winning the previous head-to-head matchup this season, 75-56, on Jan. 26 in Lakefront Arena.

Following this week's games at McNeese and Southeastern Louisiana, the Privateers will return to the Crescent City to take on Central Arkansas on Saturday, Feb. 18, 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.