NEW ORLEANS, LA. - New Orleans men's basketball (7-10, 2-2 SLC) is seeking a three-game win streak at home against Northwestern State (4-13, 2-2 SLC) this Saturday at Lakefront Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m. or approximately 30 minutes after the women's basketball game. The game will air on ESPN+ and 106.1 NASH FM with Jude Young on the call.
This will be the 26th meeting between both programs.
New Orleans will follow up Saturday's game with a road-trip to HCU (3-12, 2-3 SLC) on Monday.
New Orleans is coming off of a 78-75 loss at Nicholls State Monday in which five Privateers scored in double-figures. Senior Tyson Jackson led the way with a season-best 18 points and seven rebounds. Mason Jones had 15 points and five rebounds, while Jordan Johnson scored 14 points and three rebounds. Jah Short accounted for 11 points and a team-best eight rebounds in his third consecutive start for New Orleans as a true freshman. To round out the group, James Glisson III chipped in a season-high 12 points off the bench on four-of-five shooting from the field and three-of-four shooting from deep.
Johnson, who leads the team in scoring and ranks 4th nationally, averages 22.4 points per game overall and 26.5 ppg in SLC play. The senior was named AP and Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week this past Monday after averaging 38 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 2.5 steals to help lead New Orleans over A&M Commerce and Corpus Christi last week. The Memphis, Tennessee, native is only the 2nd in program history to earn national honors behind Privateer Legend Ervin Johnson in 1992-93.
Jones is the only other Privateer averaging double-figures in conference play with 11.8 points ppg. The Rice transfer has scored in double-figures in the last three games and scored atleast one three-pointer over the last two contests.
Jackson will be the second Privateer this season to hit 1,000 career points as he sits at 982 after Monday's performance.
In the last meeting between New Orleans and NSU, the Privateers narrowly missed the 2022-23 Southland Conference Championship game due to a four-point loss to the Demons. Prior to the tournament, New Orleans beat NSU at home, 68-65. The game featured Jordan Johnson (23 pts) and Tyson Jackson (14 pts) in double-figures.
NSU is currently looking to build off of its most recent wins over UIW and HCU at home. In the 69-64 win over the Huskies, McNeese transfer Braelon Bush led the Demons with 15 points, two assists, and a pair of rebounds. Senior Justin Wilson scored 11 points and seven rebounds, while Duane Posey led the defensive effort with 10 boards and six points.
Junior Cliff Davis leads the team in scoring with 15.3 points per game. Bush is the other Demon in double-figures averaging 10.0 points per game. In NSU's game preview, first-year head coach says the focus for the Demons is to contain Johnson and Jackson: "Coach Sless has done a great job and has some very good bigs, but he has a very dynamic guard who we have to contain."
HCU returns home Saturday afternoon to host Lamar University. The Huskies are coming off a stretch of three road games that included a win over Texas A&M-Commerce and losses at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and NSU. HCU is led by Jay Alvarez who averaged 21.5 points and 4.3 rebounds through the first four games of conference play. Marcus Greene is averaging 13.5 points per game. Michael Imariagbe and Bonke Maring lead defensively, with Imariagbe's 8.3 reboundsMaring's 8.1.
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