HAMMOND, La. – The Privateers are one of the league's hottest teams and No. 3 New Orleans (17-11, 12-5 Southland) looks to remain in the hunt for the second double-bye of next week's Southland Conference Tournament when visiting No. 4 Southeastern Louisiana (15-14, 11-5 Southland) Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Fans can tune into the broadcast by visiting
UNOPrivateers.com, beginning with the pregame show from the University Center.
TIP OFF
• The regular season comes to a close for UNO Wednesday when the Privateers visit Southeastern Louisiana looking for the series sweep.
• In the first meeting, New Orleans connected on 14 triples to dominate over Southeastern Louisiana 89-68.
• The 14 three-pointers tied for the second most in program history, just one away from tying the program record, set February 14, 2001 (North Texas).
• The Privateers look to end the season 9-2 and are vying for a double-bye spot in next week's Southland Tournament in Katy. Currently, UNO is 12-5, one game behind Abilene Christian in the loss column for the No. 2 spot in the tourney.
• Should the playoffs begin today, the Privateers will receive a single-bye and compete Thursday at 7:30 p.m. versus the winner of No. 6 versus No. 7.
• Last week,
Scott Plaisance Jr. posted five blocks versus Sam Houston State and a career-high 19 points in a 10-point victory at Nicholls.
• Reinserted into the starting lineup,
Troy Green did a little of everything, tallying 13 points, a career-high nine rebounds and seven assists and added two steals.
• On the year,
Bryson Robinson leads the club with 11.3 points per game. Since taking over as one of three starting guards,
Jorge Rosa has posted an 18-point and 14-point game. In those games, Rosa went 10-of-17 from three-point range.
HOW TO FOLLOW
Game Notes:
http://unoprivateers.com/sports/2017/11/6/mens-basketball-game-notes.aspx
Live Stats:
https://unoprivateers.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Audio:
http://unoprivateers.com/watch/
Video:
https://lionsports.net/watch/?Live=748
Social Media
Twitter:
@PrivateersMBB
Instagram:
@PrivateersMBB
Facebook:
PrivateersMBB
ABOUT THE PRIVATEERS
The Privateers are on the road for the remainder of the regular season and look to earn the second seed in the upcoming Southland Tournament. New Orleans is currently a game back in the loss column to Abilene Christian, though the Wildcats have one more regular season game left to play.
In the previous meeting with the Lions, four players reached double figures, but the story was the three-point shooting, as the Privateers finished one shy of tying the school record for most triples in a game. In the blowout, UNO went 14-of-23 from deep and overall, shot 60.4 percent from the field.
ABOUT THE LIONS
One of the nation's leading shooters (Moses Greenwood) and the preseason player of the year (Marlain Veal) pace the squad that is 11-5 in league play. Greenwood is averaging 16.8 points on 60.9 percent shooting, 7.5 rebounds and 1.1 blocks, while Veal is posting averages of 15.9 points, 4.3 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 1.6 steals.
THE SERIES
New Orleans leads the series 12-6 and UNO is 6-2 when visiting SLU. The last season the Privateers swept the Lions was 2014-15.
WINS BY LOUISIANA SCHOOLS
New Orleans is tied for third in the state in wins (Division I programs). Below is the breakdown
LSU, 24
Louisiana Tech, 18
New Orleans, 17
Louisiana, 17
ULM, 15
Southeastern Louisiana, 15
Grambling State, 14
Nicholls , 12
Northwestern State, 11
McNeese, 9
Southern, 6
Tulane, 4
SECOND BEST
With Saturday's 80-70 win over Nicholls, the Privateers clinched the second best season since joining the Southland/under head coach
Mark Slessinger. The 17 wins and 12 league victories are the most since the 2016-17 championship season, when the 20-12/13-5 Privateers won the regular season and tournament en route to an NCAA First Four appearance.
SOUTHLAND TOURNAMENT TICKETS NOW AVAILABLE
Purchase your tickets to the 2019 Southland Conference Tournament in Katy, Texas March 13-16 by visiting UNOPrivateers.com/SLC. Full books for all sessions are just $80. Currently in third, the Privateers would not participate until day two, having earned a single bye.
UNDER SLESS
Since joining the Southland Conference, the Privateers are 56-51 in league play.
CAN THEY REPLICATE?
The last time the Privateers took on the Lions, an array of shooters shined in the 89-68 victory. The club drained 14 triples and shot over 60 percent from the floor. Four players reached double figures, led by
Bryson Robinson's 23 points, and
Gerrale Gates posted a season-high 10 rebounds in the blowout W.
SCOTTIE P TAKE OVER
Scott Plaisance Jr. is swatting away shots at will inside, with 17 blocks in the last nine games, including five in Wednesday's setback to Sam Houston State (Feb. 27). The senior posted his first career double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds in Feb. 9's loss to Nicholls. In Saturday's win over the Colonels, Plaisance Jr. posted a career-high 19 points to pace the four scorers in double figures.
HIP HIP JORGE
Reinserted into the starting lineup Saturday, senior
Jorge Rosa will look to provide perimeter offense for the Privateers. In his second start of the season, Rosa drained two triples in 19 minutes of action. In Feb. 20 win over the Lions, Rosa drained six triples for 18 points. On Saturday, Jorge went 4-of-8 from deep and finished with 14 points.
FREE THROW IMPROVEMENT
In the victory vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (Feb. 16), the Privateers connected on 20-of-24 from the line, making 20+ free throws for the seventh time this season. In Saturday's win at McNeese, UNO went 14-of-17 from the charity stripe.
SWARMING DEFENSE
With a defense in the top five nationally in steals and turnovers, UNO has forced 15+ turnovers 20 times this season and 20+ seven times. The Privateers have collected 10+ steals 12 times. UNO is 14-6 when forcing 15-plus miscues.
WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN
Head coach
Mark Slessinger said the club is as balanced offensively as any team in the conference. New Orleans is 10-0 when four or more players reached double figures, including Saturday's win over the Colonels.
REACH 70? IT'S ALL UNO
New Orleans will look to continue to surpass the 70-point plateau. When the Privateers score 70 or more points, they are 13-2 following Saturday's 80-70 win over Nicholls.
PRIVATEERS IN THE PROS
#1.
Travin Thibodeaux (6'8''-F-96, graduated '18, plays for the Fort Wayne Mad Antsin the NBA G League) - Averages 5.0ppg and 4.7rpg in 23 games he played so far.
#2.
Michael Zeno (6'6''-G/F-95, graduated '18, plays for Baerum Basket in Norway) - Averages 17.3ppg, 8.9rpg and 3.0apg.
#3.
Jaroslav Tyrna (6'10''-C-86, graduated '11, playing for Sokol Vysehrad in Czech Republic) - Averaging 18.0ppg, 9.0rpg and 1.7apg in three games.
#4. Cory Dixon (6'7''-F-90, graduated '14, plays for Sudbury Five in Canada) - Averaging 14.5ppg, 8.5rpg and 1.1apg.
- Bo McCalebb (5'10''-PG-85) plays for Zaragoza in Spanish Liga Endesa
- Erik Thomas (6'5''-SF-95) plays for Libertad Sunchales in Argentinian La Liga
- Johnell Smith (5'11''-PG-80) plays for Norrkoping Dolphins in Swedish Basketligan
- Nate Frye (6'0''-PG-94) plays for Atletico Welcome in Uruguayan LUB
- Kyndall Dykes (6'4''-SG-87) plays for Cluj Napoca in Romanian Liga Nationala
- Jairo Mendoza (6'8''-F/C-85) played for Piratas de Bogota in Colombian LPB few monts ago
- Lovell Cook (6'7''-G/F-90) played for Atletico Nacional in Panamanian LPB last year
- Kevin Hill (6'7''-F-92) plays for Ohrid AV in North Macedonian Prva Liga
- Kevin Brown (6'3''-G-92) plays for Teuta in Albanian Superliga
- Tevin Broyles (6'4''-G-95) plays for Teuta in Albanian Superliga
- Issac Mack (6'1''-G-92) plays for Al Wehda in Saudi Arabian SBL
- Destin Damachoua (6'1''-G-86) plays for SO Pont de Cheruy Charvieu Chavanoz in French NM2
- Terrance Syon (6'6''-F) played for Dallas Mustangs in the NABL last year
SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans are encouraged to follow
@PrivateersMBB on Twitter,
@PrivateersMBB on Instagram, like
/PrivateersMBB on Facebook and subscribe to the
PrivateerAthletics YouTube channel.
