BOX SCORE
NEW ORLEANS — Outstanding debuts from seniors
Jakevion Buckley and
Coleton Benson and a perfect shooting night from
MJ Thomas helped the University of New Orleans men's basketball (1-0, 0-0 Southland) open its season with a 78-74 victory over TCU (0-1, 0-0) on Monday night in Fort Worth, Texas.
Playing in his home state Benson scored a team-high 22 points and pulled down six rebounds - one board shy of matching his career high. His four 3-pointers came at key moments to slow down TCU's momentum. Benson buried a 25-footer to give the Privateers a 17-point lead with 15:49 left in the game, then knocked down another triple 20 seconds later to make it 55-40.
Shelbyville's Buckley scored 13 points and matched his career high with nine assists. He went 7-of-10 from the free throw line and hit the final free throw that sealed UNO's victory with two seconds to play. Benson's fellow Texan also had four steals in the upset win.
Denton native
MJ Thomas was strong off the bench for UNO, shooting a perfect 5-of-5 from the floor for 10 points and grabbing seven rebounds. Thomas' dunk, followed by
Kedrick Osby's steal and fast-break flush, gave UNO a 20-point first-half lead with 6:54 left in the period — its largest of the half. Osby finished his Privateer debut with eight first-half points and two rebounds.
The Privateers led 44-28 at halftime after shooting 55.9 percent from the floor and holding TCU to 32.4 percent. The lead grew to as much as 21 with 7:24 to play, but the Horned Frogs wouldn't go down without a fight.
Micha Robinson knocked down a pair of free throws to cut UNO's lead to two with 1:20 left.
TJ Cope answered with a drive and score to make it 74-70 UNO with 1:06 remaining. Buckley and Benson combined to knock down four free throws in the last 18 seconds to give UNO the win.
New Orleans held TCU to 38.8 percent shooting (26 of 67) and 11.1 percent from 3-point range (3 of 27) while outrebounding the Horned Frogs 39-28. The Privateers led for more than 35 minutes, with TCU's only lead coming at 2-0 with 18:14 left in the first half.
David Punch led TCU with 19 points on 9-of-13 shooting and eight rebounds.
Monday's victory was the Privateers' first over a Power Four school since defeating Washington State 70-54 in 2016 and their first over a Big 12 opponent since beating Colorado 67-65 in 2007. It was just TCU's sixth loss in 75 nonconference games under head coach Jamie Dixon and its first since 2022.
UP NEXT
New Orleans men's basketball hosts SUNO on Saturday Nov. 8 at Lakefront Arena for homecoming. Tickets are available at both UNOPrivateers.com/tickets and at TicketMaster.com. Saturday's game will tip off at 3:00 p.m. and be available on ESPN+ and
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