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NEW ORLEANS – The University of New Orleans men's basketball team enters the 2022 Southland Basketball Tournament as the No. 3 seed and will face the winner of Wednesday's contest between No. 6 McNeese and No. 7 Northwestern State on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at the Merrell Center in Katy, Texas.
Last time on the floor the Privateers dropped a hard-fought contest at Nicholls, 92-84 - the first winner-take-all game for the Southland regular season championship since 1999.
Derek St. Hilaire scored 26 points and pulled down six rebounds, but Southland Player of the Year Ty Gordon scored 37 for Colonels (the most by a Southland student-athlete this season) in a battle of two of the most dynamic scorers in the country.
Troy Green finished with his third career double-double (21pts and 10reb) in the defeat.
Derek St. Hilaire has been one of the most dynamic scorers in the country this season. The Atlanta native is averaging 20.8 points per game - second in the Southland and 13th in the NCAA this season. The graduate student has three 30-point games in his career, including a career-best 34 at HBU back in January - 22 games of 20 points or more (19 this season), and has scored in double-figures 41 times in his UNO career.
Derek has been named the Southland Player of the Week twice this year (Nov. 29 and Jan. 31), the Louisiana Sports Writer's Association Player of the Month for November, and Player of the Week twice (Jan. 24 and Jan. 31). He was recently named the Allstate Sugar Bowl Amateur Athlete of the Month for January - the first men's basketball student-athlete from UNO to earn the distinction since Erik Thomas in 2017.
Nicholls' Ty Gordon (22.6), HBU's Darius Lee (22.3), and
Derek St. Hilaire (22.6) were the first Southland student-athletes to average 22+ points per game in Southland play since 2013-2014. Derek was named first-team all-Southland on Monday.
Fifth-year senior
Troy Green has written his name all over the UNO record books. Troy has played the most games in school history - 147 - and currently ranks second in free throws made (507), and steals (179), third in points scored (1,762), and 5th in career assists (379). The St. Rose native was named both Southland Player of the Week and Louisiana Sport's Writer's Association Player of the week on Jan. 17 - this second time in his career he swept both honors in the same week.
Troy is one of just four Privateers with 1,600 career points, one of just three with 1,700 career points, and one of just two with 500+ made free throws in a career. He was named First-Team All-Southland on Monday. The senior's six steals last time out at Nicholls are tied for the most by a Southland student-athlete this season, and the most by a Privateer since Nate Frye had seven steals against Southern Illinois in 2014.
STATISTIC RANK # NEXT ON LIST # DIFFERENCE
Games Played 1st 147 Bo McCalebb 128 All-time leader.
Points 3rd 1,762 Mel Henderson 1,900 138 points.
Free Throws 2nd 513 Bo McCalebb 610 104 free throws.
Steals 2nd 185 Bo McCalebb 250 65 steals.
Assists 5th 379 A.J. Meredith 391 11 assists.
PRIVATEERS IN THE SOUTHLAND TOURNAMENT
The Privateers enter the Southland Tournament as the No. 3 seed for the first time in program history. The Privateers are 7-5 all-time in the Southland Tournament. In the programs' only meeting in Katy, Northwestern State eliminated the Privateers last season in controversial fashion, 82-79. New Orleans have never faced McNeese in the Southland tournament.
FIRST TEAMERS
Troy Green and
Derek St. Hilaire were named First-Team All-Southland by the league on Monday morning. It's the first time in program history that UNO has had two first-team All-Conference selections in the same season, and the first time with more than one selection to the All-Southland men's basketball team since joining the league in 2013-2014.
SLESS STANDS ALONE
Mark Slessinger has now won the most games IN SCHOOL HISTORY as the Privateer head coach - 148. Slessinger passed Ron Greene for the most wins with his 147th victory on the Lakefront against McNeese on Feb. 19. Coach Sless has coached the most games in school history (325) and is the longest tenured coach in UNO history. Earlier this season against Rice he hit a major milestone coaching his 300th game on the Lakefront.
SHOOT WELL, DEFEND BETTER
Despite being ranked fourth in the league in scoring at 78.1 points per game, the Privateers are SECOND in the Southland in field goal percentage at .472. Defensively UNO is allowing 73.8 points per game - good for third in the Southland and holding opponents to just .423 from the field - SECOND in the Southland.
TRIPLE DOG DARE YOU TO SHOOT THAT
The Privateers lead the Southland conference and are 32ND in the NCAA in three-point defense. UNO opponents are hitting 30.3% of their shots from beyond the arc this season. Opponents have hit 29% or less of their three-point attempts in 13 of the Privateers games this season.
OFFENSE RUNS THROUGH THE SAINT
Derek St. Hilaire has taken 34.0% of UNO's shots this season (9th highest shot percentage in the country). This season Derek has taken 454 shots out of UNO's 1,712. His 27 attempts at Northwestern earlier this year are the 18th most in the NCAA this season in a single game, and the ninth most in a single game in school history. The last Privateer with more shots in a game was Bo McCalebb who had 30 attempts against Tulane in 2006. Hilaire has attempted double-digit shots 27 of his 28 games this season with five games of 20 shots or more.
Jose Perez of Manhattan has the most attempts in a game this season with 33, Butch Webster holds the UNO record with 38 shots against Ball State in 1970, and Dwight Lamar of Louisiana, holds the Southland record with 41 shots (twice) in 1972 and 1973.
WALK THE LINE
New Orleans ranks top-10 in both free throw attempts (6th - 688), and free throws made (7th, 500) in the NCAA. Ken Pom has their FTRate at 42.3 – the best in the country. UNO made a season-high 31 free throws against McNeese this season on a season high 46 attempts. Both were the most in the league this season until HBU and McNeese's four overtime game on the final day of the season.
Troy Green also had the most free throws made by a Southland student-athlete (15) in that same game, until Darius Lee (HBU) sank 20 in the previously mentioned four overtime affair.
DANIEL DIMES
Daniel Sackey had back-to-back games with eight assists earlier this season against Dillard and Nicholls. The last Privateer to accomplish that feat was Rarlense Nelson who accomplished the feat twice during 2012-2013 - including a trio of games with 14, 10, and 9 assists in a row.
DOUBLE DOUBLE-DOUBLES FOR PRIVATEER PAIR
Troy Green and
Simeon Kirkland both have a pair of double-doubles for UNO this season. Green scored 16 points and pulled down 13 rebounds against Southeastern in January and finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds last game against Nicholls. Kirkland's first double-double came at Utah State in December with 14 points and 14 rebounds, while his second came against McNeese to open the Southland Tipoff Tournament - 12 points, 12 rebounds. Of the current team only Green (3), Kirkland (2), and Myers (2) have multiple double-doubles in their UNO careers. Kirkland's 14 rebounds against Utah State were the most by a Privateer since Travin Thibodaux in 2016.
PRIVATEERS LOOM LARGE
For the first time in years the Privateers have size and length in the post with four student-athletes listed at 6-8 or above.
Darrius Washington checks in at 6-8, while
D'Ante Bell and
Tyson Jackson are both 6-9. Topping the charts though is
Simeon Kirkland - the UAB transfer is 6-10. As far as we know it is the first time in school history that four or more student-athletes have been 6-8 or taller.
DON'T ADJUST YOUR SET
Privateer basketball has played 1,530 games since 1969 – and for 1,524 of them have worn either royal blue, white, or silver. This season the Privateers have a new navy uniform - worn against Louisiana, McNeese, HBU, UIW, and Northwestern State. The only other time the team wore something other than royal blue, white or silver was in 2002 when they wore an all-black uniform against Lipscombe. That look was nixed after one game by then-Chancellor Gregory O'Brien for violating the schools color palette! Don't worry though, navy was added to the official color palette back in 2013.
HOW TO WATCH / LISTEN
All games of the Southland Tournament will be available for fans on ESPN+, with the finals also being televised on ESPN2. Jude Young and Tic Price will have the call of each Privateer postseason game on NASH 106.1 FM, and
nashfm1061.com.
