NEW ORLEANS – Despite strong efforts from the frontcourt duo of
MJ Thomas and
Luke Davis, the University of New Orleans (4-23, 2-14 Southland) dropped its eighth game in a row, falling 78-62 to Nicholls (16-11, 10-6 Southland) on Monday evening at Lakefront Arena.
The Privateers found themselves trailing by 20-plus points in the second half again on Monday night, and once again staged a familiar fightback. Down 22 with 12:52 to play, New Orleans went on a 16-1 run over the next four and a half minutes.
Three-pointers from
Grant Kemp and
Theo Grant eventually cut the Colonels' lead to six with 8:12 to play. During the run, UNO knocked down 6-of-7 shots and held Nicholls to 0-of-6 from the field.
After a pair of free throws from
Leland Coleman made the score 58-52 Nicholls with 7:26 left, the Colonels slowly began to pull away again. Back-to-back layups from Jamal West Jr. and a three-pointer with under a minute left from Byron Ireland eventually put away the Privateers.
Nicholls ended the first half on a 15-6 run, taking a 37-27 advantage into the locker room. The Colonels made six first half three-pointers – almost half of their 14 first-half field goals. Davis finished the first half with eight points, including two made three-pointers, and six rebounds for the Privateers.
MJ Thomas finished with 17 rebounds - the most by a UNO freshman in a conference game in school history. New Orleans Athletic Hall of Famer Ervin Johnson had 13 twice in February 1990. His 17 rebounds were also the most by any Southland Conference student-athlete since Christian Shumate (McNeese) and Michael Imariagbe (HCU) both pulled down 23 in 2023. Only two freshmen – Corey Chest of LSU (18 vs. Alabama) and Derik Queen of Maryland (20 vs. Manhattan) have more rebounds in a game this season in Div. I. Thomas also finished with 12 points, two assists and two blocks.
Davis joined
Leland Coleman, Thomas and
James White as Privateers with a double-double this season. He scored a career-high 10 points and pulled down a career-high 11 rebounds for the first double-double of his career. Coleman finished with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field with five rebounds.
Kohen Rowbatham also finished with 12 points and three assists.
UNO out rebounded Nicholls 46-39, the fifth game in a row New Orleans has outrebounded its opponent. UNO also edged Nicholls in the paint 36-34. Nicholls finished the game shooting 47% from the field, including 53% in the second half. New Orleans shot 35.9% after a 29.5% first half.
Ireland led the Colonels with 18 points off the bench on 8-of-11 from the field in 30 minutes. Trae English finished with 17 points and eight assists. West Jr. had a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds.
The Privateers will host Northwestern State in the 750th home game in school history this Saturday. Tipoff at Lakefront Arena is set for 5 p.m., with the game airing on ESPN+ and The Ticket 106.1 FM. The Privateers fell to the Demons 73-61 in Natchitoches on Jan. 20.
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