New Orleans Privateers (3-10) at San Jose State (8-6)
Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2013 •9 p.m. CST (7 p.m. PST) • WGSO 990 AM
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UNO Game Notes • SJSU Game Notes
SAN JOSE, Calif. – The New Orleans men's basketball program will end its six-game road stretch on Tuesday at 9 p.m. CT against San Jose State at the Event Center.
The game will be broadcast on WGSO 990 AM and WGSO.com. Live stats and video will be available through SJSUSpartans.com.
Tuesday will mark the sixth road contest in 23 days for UNO (3-10), which has competed in three of the continental United States' four time zones during the stretch. The Privateers have dropped all five games of the road swing, including a 57-44 loss to then-No.17 Butler on Saturday at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
UNO made great strides in the game at Butler as the team executed Privateer head coach
Mark Slessinger's game plan in slowing down the Bulldogs' offense while keeping the team within reach of claiming a win in one of the more difficult venues in college basketball.
Lovell Cook led UNO with 11 points in the game and remains the team's top scorer with 13.2 points per game. Cook also leads the squad when it comes to shooting, connecting on 57.5 percent of his attempts from the field.
Other contributors offensively were
Tradarrius McPhearson and
Cory Dixon with 10 and 9 points, respectively. The aforementioned trio benefited as
Rarlensee Nelson and
Corey Blake dished out four assists apiece, marking just the third time this year that the Privateers have had at least two players total four or more assists.
One of the games in which two players had four or more assists came against Tuesday opponent SJSU (8-6) on Nov. 9. Following a 72-68 victory by UNO in that previous meeting, the Privateers enter Tuesday with an opportunity to sweep an in-season home-and-home series against an NCAA Division I foe for the first time since besting former Sun Belt Conference rival Denver twice in 2007-08.
In that previous encounter against the Spartans, the Privateers rallied from a 12-point deficit to take their first lead with 6:30 remaining. UNO shot 66.7 percent from the field in the second half, highlighted by a Dixon game-winning lay-up with 15.3 seconds left in the contest that lifted the Privateers to the victory.
Since the opener, SJSU has recovered from a 0-2 start to win 8 of 12 games, including 3 of 4 games within the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). Preseason All-WAC selection James Kinney leads the Spartans with 21.5 points per outing including a game-high 23 against the Privateers. Chris Cunningham adds 10.7 points per game while leading SJSU with 9.1 rebounds a game.
Following Tuesday's contest, UNO will return home to the friendly confines of Lakefront Arena to battle Champion Baptist on Saturday, Jan. 12. Tip is scheduled for 12 p.m. and will be followed by a game between the Lady Privateers and Houston Baptist at 2 p.m.
