NEW ORLEANS – The New Orleans Privateers used an overpowering inside game in the second half Thursday night to turn a nine-point halftime deficit into a 75-66 win over the ACU Wildcats in the Southland Conference opener for both teams at Lakefront Arena.
The Privateers outscored ACU 46-28 in the paint in the game, but the score was a decisive 26-10 in the second half as they improved to 3-1 all-time against ACU, including 3-0 in New Orleans. ACU is now 6-6 overall and 0-1 in the league, while the Privateers improve to 6-6 and 1-0.
The Wildcats overcame seven first-half turnovers and foul trouble in the first 20 minutes to take a 39-30 lead at the break behind nine points from
Jaren Lewis, eight from
Hayden Farquhar and seven from
Isaiah Tripp.
But the Privateers outscored the Wildcats 45-27 in the second half to turn away the Wildcats. UNO scored 26 points in the paint in the second half, one less than ACU scored in the entire final 20 minutes. The Privateers also scored 14 points at the free throw line, hit one 3-pointer and had another mid-range jumper for their 45 points.
After hitting just 10 of 26 shots from the floor in the first half, UNO was 15 for 25 (60 percent) from the floor in the second half with 13 of those field goals coming in the paint. Erik Thomas – who leads the Southland Conference in scoring – had 15 of his game-high 24 points in the second half.
ACU contributed to its demise with 10 second-half turnovers and 36.8 percent shooting from the floor after hitting 14 of 28 shots in the first half (50 percent). The Wildcats struggled from 3-point range in the second half (2 for 11) after hitting 4 of 6 from the arc in the first half.
And the Wildcats played most of the half with several players in foul trouble, including
Jaylen Franklin and
Jalone Friday, each of whom played significant stretches with four fouls. Friday finally fouled out of the game late in the contest after scoring 10 points.
After UNO put on an early second-half spurt to get the game close, ACU rallied to push its lead back to seven points. UNO rallied again, taking their first lead since early in the game on a three-point play by Michael Zeno, giving his team a 56-54 lead with 9:42 left in the game.
With the game tied 58-58, UNO ran off a 9-1 run to take a 67-59 lead with 3:52 to play, putting the Wildcats away.
Lewis finished with 19 points to lead the Wildcats.
Key Stat
• New Orleans had a decided advantage inside and in second-chance points Thursday night. The Privateers outscored the Wildcats 46-28 in the paint and had 21 second-chance points compared to just 11 for the Wildcats. ACU only had three second-chance points in the decisive second half.
Notable
• For the 10
th time in 12 games this season, the Wildcats led at halftime (39-30). They are now 6-4 on the season when they lead at the half. They've lost two of the last three times they've led at the half: at Sacramento State on Dec. 17 and Thursday at New Orleans.
Up Next
The Wildcats will be back in action Saturday at 2 p.m. when they take on Southeastern Louisiana at University Center in Hammond, La. The game can be heard on 98.1 FM The Ticket (98theticket.com).
