The New Orleans Privateers men’s basketball team is set to face the #7 Houston Cougars in their final non-conference game of the season on Saturday at the Fertitta Center. The matchup will tip off at 2 p.m.
The Privateers, holding a 3-7 record, recently secured a narrow 84-83 win over Incarnate Word (UIW) on Monday. In that contest, four players scored in double figures. TJ Cope led with 19 points, five rebounds, and two blocks. Jakevion Buckley contributed 18 points and seven assists. MJ Thomas added 16 points along with eight rebounds and three steals, while Panagiotis Pagonis finished with 14 points, making five of his six shots from the field.
This season, New Orleans ranks fifth in the Southland Conference and 104th nationally in blocked shots per game with an average of four. Last year, they were tenth in their conference and ranked 285th overall with just 2.6 blocks per game. Churchill Abass currently stands fourth among Southland players for blocks per game at 1.4.
TJ Cope has shown improvement recently, posting a season-high 21 points against Memphis and following up with another strong performance against UIW. Over his last three games, his scoring average has increased from 4.6 to 7.8 points per game. Monday also marked the first time he led the team in minutes played this season.
Saturday’s matchup marks the second time this year that New Orleans faces a ranked opponent; earlier they played Texas Tech when that team was ranked #20 nationally. Houston is currently seventh in the latest Associated Press poll and will be the fifth top-10 opponent New Orleans has faced since 2000.
Historically, Houston leads the series between these programs with four wins out of five meetings; New Orleans’ only victory came in 1988.
Houston enters this contest at 9-1 after finishing as national runner-up last season under head coach Kelvin Sampson—now in his twelfth year with an overall winning percentage of 78.4%. Sampson holds an all-time record of 18-1 against current Southland schools.
Defensively strong, Houston ranks eleventh nationally by limiting opponents to just a 37.1% shooting percentage from the field. Three Cougars are averaging double-digit points: Emanuel Sharp leads with an average of 18.1 points per game, followed by Kingston Flemings at 14.8 and Milos Uzan at 11.6.
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