NEW ORLEANS – The first-place and defending Southland Conference Champion University of New Orleans (8-9, 5-1 Southland) welcomes one of the nation's top scoring teams in the University of Central Arkansas (9-10, 3-3 Southland) Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Lakefront Arena.
TIP-OFF
• New Orleans is a perfect 6-0 at home this season and 3-0 when hosting the Bears.
• Saturday's win put head coach
Mark Slessinger in sole possession of third place on the school's wins list.
•
Travin Thibodeaux is the one of the hottest players in the country with back-to-back 20-point performances. The senior posted 20 points, three steals and three blocks in the 61-55 victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
•
Michael Zeno has come on strong with three consecutive double digit games. The senior scored 11 and dished out four assists Saturday.
• The smallest freshman in NCAA Division I is coming off a career performance.
Lamont Berzat finished with 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting and added four steals in 21 minutes of action.
• One of the nation's leading scorers enters Lakefront as UCA's Jordan Howard ranks fourth with just under 25.0 points per game. The Bears are in the top 50 in the country in scoring but begin the week with a 3-3 conference record.
•
A WIN WOULD…
- give New Orleans second consecutive 6-1 start.
- improve home record to 7-0 for the first time since 2002-03, when the Privateers began 8-0.
•
LOAD THE LAKEFRONT
Our next game will be on ESPN3/WatchESPN and all fans can follow via the ESPN app Jan. 20 vs. UIW.
HOW TO FOLLOW
Game Notes:
http://unoprivateers.com/sports/2017/11/6/mens-basketball-game-notes.aspx
Live Stats:
http://sidearmstats.com/uno/mbball/
Watch:
http://unoprivateers.com/watch/?Live=1189&type=Live
Social Media
Twitter:
@PrivateersMBB
Instagram:
@PrivateersMBB
Facebook:
/PrivateersMBB
ABOUT NEW ORLEANS
The Privateers look to remain undefeated at home and remain atop the Southland Conference standings.
Travin Thibodeaux's 16.5 points (good for t-fourth in SLC), and 55.6 percent shooting (third in conference) are tops on the club, along with his 6.0 rebounds, 1.3 blocks and 1.3 steals. The senior has reached double figures in 10 consecutive games, including back-to-back 20-point performances.
Michael Zeno has reached double figures in three straight, including 10 when inserted back into the starting lineup Saturday due to
Diontae Champion's injury.
All in all, the balanced features five players averaging 7.0 or more points per game and three scoring on more than half of their shots - Champion, Thibodeaux and
Damion Rosser.
ABOUT CENTRAL ARKANSAS
Led by the nation's No. 4 scorer, Jordan Howard, the Bears are .500 early on in Southland play. Howard's 24.3 points per game pace a club that is averaging 82.8 points. Howard is knocking down 38.4 percent of his triples. Hayden Koval is among the nation's leaders and is tops in the conference with 2.6 blocks per game.
THE SERIES
The Privateers swept last season's series and are 5-2 overall versus the Bears. At home, New Orleans is 3-0 against Central Arkansas.
SERIES BREAKDOWN
Overall (5-2) | Home (3-0) | Away (2-2) | Southland (5-2)
| 2/8/14 |
A * |
W |
88-79 |
| 1/26/15 |
H * |
W |
87-67 |
| 2/7/15 |
A * |
L |
67-70 |
| 1/25/16 |
H * |
W |
94-83 |
| 2/6/16 |
A * |
L |
77-112 |
| 1/21/17 |
A * |
W |
81-63 |
| 2/18/17 |
H * |
W |
84-61 |
* – Southland Conference
DEFEND THE LAKEFRONT
New Orleans is 6-0 at Lakefront Arena and should the Privateers win Wednesday, the 7-0 start to home play would be the best since the 2002-03 season when UNO began 8-0.
LOAD THE LAKEFRONT
Saturday's game versus Incarnate Word is not only the first ESPN3 home game in a while for New Orleans, it is
#LoadTheLakefront. Discounted tickets, giveaway, beer, food, tailgate and more begin during the women's slate (3:30 p.m. tailgate; tip-off at 4 p.m.) so don't miss your chance to cheer on the Privateers and watch the Ws pile up.
THIBODEAUX GOES BACK-TO-BACK
Travin Thibodeaux is putting together his best offensive season as a Privateer. The Plaquemine native entered with zero 20 point games in three seasons and begins the week with seven in 2017-18, including back-to-back 20-point performances at Stephen F. Austin (Jan. 10) and in the 61-55 victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (Jan. 13).
RECORD BOOK CHANGES
The home crowd has seen
Mark Slessinger move up the ranks this season with the seventh-year coach now second on the most games coached, 19 behind Ron Greene and third in wins with 85.
Most Games
211 Ron Greene, 1969-77
192
Mark Slessinger, 2011-Present
185 Tim Floyd, 1988-94
CLUTCH DOWN THE STRETCH
They say championship teams know how to win late in ballgames and the defending Southland Conference champs are doing just that. The Privateer are 8-0 when leading with 2:00 minutes remaining.
ZEKE LEADS THE WAY in 3FG
Ezekiel Charles' 50.0 percent shooting from three-point range leads the way and despite not hitting a three since the Lamar game Jan. 3, the junior is averaging 5.2 points per game.
GREEN, ROBINSON, CHAMPION, THIBODEAUX, PUOU
After tinkering with the lineup, it looks like head coach
Mark Slessinger have found his starting five - guards
Troy Green and
Bryson Robinson, wing
Diontae Champion and bigs
Makur Puou and
Travin Thibodeaux. The Privateers are 5-2 when the five start.
ZENO COMING ON STRONG
Michael Zeno has reached double figures in three consecutive games. In six conference games, he is averaging 7.2 points per game.
IN THE RANKINGS
Below are the statistical categories the Privateers and their opponent are nationally-ranked in (top 50 only).
Thru 1/13/18
New Orleans
- Team
- Steals per Game (44th, 7.9)
- Turnovers Forced (44th, 15.94)
- Individual
- n/a
Central Arkansas
- Team
- Total Assists (17th, 318)
- Free Throw Attempts (18th, 439)
- Free Throws Made (26th, 314)
- Total Blocks (30th, 91)
- Scoring Offense (35th, 82.8)
- Assists per Game (37th, 16.7)
- Total 3FG Made (44th, 168)
- Blocked Shots per Game (45th, 4.8)
- Total Rebounds (48th, 710)
- 3FG Attempts (50th, 453)
- Individual
- Jordan Howard
- Total FG Attempts (2nd, 347)
- Points per Game (4th, 24.3)
- Total Points (4th, 462)
- FG Made (5th, 150)
- 3FG Attempts (8th, 164)
- 3FG Made (11th, 63)
- Minutes Played (16th, 40,440)
- 3FG per Game (18th, 3.32)
- Free Throw Made (29th, 99)
- Free Throw Attempts (49th, 119)
- Hayden Koval
- Total Blocks (20th, 46)
- Blocked Shots per Game (22nd, 2.56)
- Deandre Jones
- Triple Doubles (T1st, 1)
SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE STANDINGS
| SCHOOL |
SLC |
PCT. |
OVERALL |
PCT. |
HOME |
AWAY |
NEUTRAL |
STREAK |
| Nicholls |
5-1 |
0.833 |
11-8 |
0.579 |
8-2 |
2-6 |
1-0 |
W3 |
| New Orleans |
5-1 |
0.833 |
8-9 |
0.471 |
6-0 |
2-9 |
0-0 |
W1 |
| Stephen F. Austin |
4-1 |
0.800 |
15-3 |
0.833 |
11-0 |
4-3 |
0-0 |
W4 |
| Sam Houston State |
4-1 |
0.800 |
10-8 |
0.556 |
7-1 |
2-5 |
1-2 |
W4 |
| Southeastern La. |
4-1 |
0.800 |
10-8 |
0.556 |
4-2 |
5-6 |
1-0 |
L1 |
| Abilene Christian |
4-2 |
0.667 |
12-7 |
0.632 |
7-2 |
4-4 |
1-1 |
W2 |
| Central Arkansas |
3-3 |
0.500 |
9-10 |
0.474 |
6-1 |
3-9 |
0-0 |
L1 |
| McNeese |
3-3 |
0.500 |
6-10 |
0.375 |
5-1 |
1-9 |
0-0 |
W1 |
| Lamar |
2-3 |
0.400 |
10-8 |
0.556 |
6-3 |
4-2 |
0-2 |
L3 |
| A&M-Corpus Christi |
1-4 |
0.200 |
4-11 |
0.267 |
4-3 |
0-8 |
0-0 |
L2 |
| UIW |
0-5 |
0.000 |
5-10 |
0.333 |
5-2 |
0-8 |
0-0 |
L7 |
| Houston Baptist |
0-5 |
0.000 |
4-14 |
0.222 |
5-3 |
0-10 |
0-1 |
L7 |
| Northwestern State |
0-5 |
0.000 |
3-13 |
0.188 |
1-4 |
1-8 |
1-1 |
L8 |
NEXT UP
The Privateers conclude their homestand with Incarnate Word Saturday at 6:30 p.m. The game will be streamed on ESPN3 and WatchESPN.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans are encouraged to follow
@UNOPrivateers on Twitter,
@UNOPrivateers on Instagram, like
/UNOPrivateers on Facebook and subscribe to the
PrivateerAthletics YouTube channel.
