The University of New Orleans Privateers are set to face the Houston Christian University Huskies in the opening round of the Southland Conference Basketball Tournament. The matchup will be held at Townsley Law Arena in Lake Charles, with tipoff scheduled for 5:00 p.m. All tournament games will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and The Ticket 106.7 FM.
The Privateers (14-17 overall, 12-10 in conference play) aim to recover from two earlier losses this season against HCU (12-19, 8-14 Southland). HCU defeated New Orleans 85-76 at Lakefront Arena on December 6 and narrowly won again, 61-60, at Sharp Gym on February 14.
Coleton Benson and Jakevion Buckley were named second-team All-Southland Conference selections. Churchill Abass also received league recognition by earning a spot on the Southland All-Defensive team, becoming only the second Privateer in school history to do so.
Historically, New Orleans has a slight advantage over HCU in their series, leading 17-12. However, the Privateers have lost their last four meetings against the Huskies. In last year’s Southland tournament, UNO defeated HCU 90-69. The Privateers hold an all-time record of 10-8 (.556) in the Southland tournament.
HCU secured its place as the eighth seed following a win over Lamar to end their regular season. Ryan Bartley, Demarco Bethea, Kylin Green and D’Aundre Samuels each scored double digits in that game. Kylin Green currently ranks third in the conference for both total assists (141) and assists per game (4.5), while also leading his team with an average of 10.2 points per game.
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