SAN ANTONIO, Texas – The University of New Orleans (11-10, 8-2 Southland) committed just eight turnovers and scored 23 points off the University of the Incarnate Word's (5-14, 0-9 Southland) 20 turnovers in the 68-58 victory Saturday afternoon at the McDermott Center.
The eight turnovers are a season-low and the 20 turnovers are the second most in Southland Conference play this season (21 at HBU December 30).
Makur Puou shined in the second half with 16 of his 18 points coming in the stanza, tying his career-high in point total. The senior was 8-of-9 from the field and added two blocks.
Travin Thibodeaux finished with 14 points, reaching double figures for the 14
th-consecutive game and 40
th time as a Privateer. The bench scored 37 points in the victory, led by Puou's 18.
Troy Green added nine points and four rebounds,
Bryson Robinson and
Ezekiel Charles finished with eight apiece and four total steals.
FIRST HALF
After a slow start, the Privateers went on a 10-2 run to take a 20-15 lead, capped off by Thibodeaux's jumper at the 7:31 mark. During the run, head coach
Mark Slessinger preached unselfishness and it showed, with three assists on five field goals in a three-minute span.
Moments later,
Tyren Harrison forced a UIW turnover and the Privateers followed with an Charles triple, the second of the game for the league's leading three-point shooter, extending the UNO lead to six.
Charles continued his strong start with a putback off the corner three miss by the Privateers and a
Michael Zeno dunk off the Robinson dish sent us to a timeout with 29-21 UNO lead at the 2:55 mark.
Showcasing his IQ on the court,
Lamont Berzat forced UIW into a bad pass with 90 seconds remaining in the half. New Orleans went into the break up 29-27.
Thibodeaux and Charles led all players with eight points apiece and Thib added four boards, a block and a steal. Green dished out three dimes in 12 minutes off the bench.
SECOND HALF
Puou took control in the second half with 16 of his 18 points in the frame.
Early on, the Privateer defense was aggressive and forced five turnovers while picking up three steals en route to a 41-35 edge at the under-12 media.
The Cardinals rallied back and made it a one-possession ballgame but Robinson's steal with a shade over seven minutes to play sent the sophomore to line. He drained both to give New Orleans a four-point cushion.
On the ensuing possession, Thibodeaux and Puou anchored the paint to force a shot clock violation and Thib was fouled on a dunk attempt. After hitting first of two from the charity stripe,
Diontae Champion picked up the board off the glass and Puou cleaned it up for the second chance opportunity and seven-point lead.
UIW was cold offensively and could not take care of the basketball with back-to-back-to-back miscues as the seven-point lead was the most.
Green's layup made it 10 unanswered, catapulting the Privateers to a nine-point lead with 5:00 to go. The Cardinals did not hit a field goal from the 9:27 mark to 3:16 with the triple cutting the UNO lead to 56-51.
With 2:52 remaining, Puou banked in a bucket and got the foul for his second and-one of the game. Off the free throw miss, Champion got the board and went to the line and off his miss, Robinson went crashing to the floor for the loose ball and made a heads-up play, calling timeout with 2:48 to play.
After the 30-seconds, Puou drained the first of two to tie his career-high (18 points).
In a span of 42 seconds, the dagger was followed by Thibodeaux's dunk. In the final 8:02, the Privateers outscored the Cardinals 24-13 in the 68-58 victory over UIW, sweeping the regular season series.
The defense came up big, limiting a team that averaged over 74 points to 58 total.
NEXT UP
The Privateers return to Lakefront Arena to host Northwestern State Wednesday and league-leading Nicholls Saturday at 4:15 p.m.
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