Privateers Wallop Tulane

The Privateers jumped to an early lead, nearly surrendered it, then finished with 10 minutes of superb basketball to wipe out crosstown rival Tulane, 85-63.

Coleton Benson led the way in UNO's successful trip uptown with 33 points, including 8-for-12 shooting from beyond the arc. New Orleans led Tulane 42-31 at the break after Benson drained a three at the first half buzzer. The Green Wave rallied to sneak within five but got no closer, as UNO tore off a deadly 16-4 run to salt the game away.

Jay Buckley contributed 15 points and 12 assists to the Privateer cause. Churchill Abass added 11 points and 8 rebounds.

UNO will head west to take on Pepperdine and then Fresno State at the Acrisure Holiday Invitational next week.

UNO Pulls Upset of the Day in CBB

The Privateers opened the 2025-26 season as a 21 1/2-point underdog at TCU and sprung their first victory over a power conference school in nearly 10 years, beating the Horned Frogs 78-74.

New Orleans, which led TCU by an amazing 16 points at the half and expanded it to 20 with only a few minutes to play, nearly squandered the whole thing. Leading 70-50, UNO surrendered a 20-2 run, and at 74-72, the host Frogs had two three-pointers to take the lead and missed both, allowing the Privateers to salvage the upset.

It was a fitting end for TCU, which bricked 24 of its 27 attempts from beyond the arc and shot just 39% overall. UNO was led by Coleton Benson's 22 points, including four threes. He even added six rebounds as part of a 38-28 team victory on the boards over the Big 12 hosts. Jay Buckley added 13 points and 9 assists, and M.J. Thomas had 10 points and 7 rebounds.

New Orleans will play a home exhibition against SUNO this Saturday.

Privateers Falter in Home Finale

The Privateers completed a winless season at Lakefront Arena with a come-from-ahead loss to East Texas A&M, 73-71.

New Orleans trailed early in a turnover-plagued first half but took the lead on a Luke Davis layup at 21-20. The Privateers (4-25, 2-16) continued that roll into the second half, building as much as a 15-point lead before the Lions came roaring back to tie the game on a Yusef Salih three at 56-56.

From that point, the Privateers surged ahead behind the stellar play of star freshman M.J. Thomas, who posted a monster game with 16 points and 18 rebounds. But they fumbled away a 71-61 lead, and at 71-70 with seconds to go, E-TAMU's K.C. Ugwuakazi stole an inbounds pass and laid in the go-ahead bucket to doom the Privateers yet again. The Lions scored the final 12 points of the contest.

Thomas led a dominant Privateer effort on the glass, as UNO won the rebounding battle 50-31. J.R. Jacobs contributed 14 points and 7 assists.

UNO will conclude the season with a two-game road swing at UT-Rio Grande Valley and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Saturday and next Monday, respectively.

Demons' Fast Start Dooms UNO

The Privateers fought hard but could not overcome a massive early deficit in a 73-66 loss to Northwestern State at Lakefront Arena.

After posting the first five points of the game, UNO (4-24, 2-15) surrendered a 21-0 run to the visiting Demons, a hole from which they could never recover. They trailed by as many as 21 and were down 39-24 at the half, and while they clawed to within 6 in the waning moments, they could get no closer.

The New Orleans offensive attack was led by Kohen Rowbatham with 20 points. Luke Davis continued his late-season offensive surge, contributing 17 points. M.J. Thomas had a well-rounded evening with 11 points, 8 rebounds, 4 steals, and 3 assists. Northwestern State's Micah Thomas led all scorers with 23 points.

The Privateers shot just 37% as a team, while the Demons converted 12 out of 23 three-point attempts.

UNO will get one last chance to win a home game on Monday night against struggling East Texas A&M, a team the Privateers defeated on the road earlier this season.

UNO Takes 2 of 3 from BC

On Friday night, the Privateers got a clutch 2-RBI single from Bryan Loriga in the seventh inning to retake the lead against Boston College, 5-4. In the top of the frame, UNO had surrendered a 3-1 lead and fallen behind 4-3.

Sawyer Toney and Bryce Calloway made that lead hold up with a scoreless 8th and 9th in relief, and the Privateers hung on.

The first game of Saturday's doubleheader wasn't nearly that close. The visiting Eagles out of the ACC took a lead early and were never threatened, coasting to an 11-3 win. Zach Longshore struggled in his second start, and despite another three hits from Loriga, the New Orleans offense could never get going.

The Privateers (3-3) got a better outcome in the nightcap. While they blew a 5-0 lead and fell behind on a BC ninth inning solo shot, a clutch two-out single from Collin Loupe tied it in the bottom of the ninth, and then Jahlani Rogers was plunked with the bases loaded in the 11th to secure a 7-6 UNO win.