UNO Blows Yet Another Big Lead

The Privateers held a 13-point lead with four minutes and change left in the game, blew the entire thing, and lost 81-78 in overtime at Mississippi State.

New Orleans, holding a tenuous five-point lead at 58-53, launched what should have been a game-deciding 8-0 run in the waning minutes that gave them their biggest lead with just under five minutes to play. However, as the Privateers (2-4) have done many times of late, they helplessly watched as their entire lead evaporated down the stretch.

They were able to force overtime and even tied it late in the extra frame, only to lose on a banked three-pointer with 1.9 seconds left.

Coleton Benson led the way with 25 points and seven threes. Churchill Abass and M.J. Thomas both posted double-doubles with 13 points and 10 rebounds each.

UNO will travel to Lubbock for a pre-Thanksgiving day game on Wednesday at #10 Texas Tech.

UNO Swept on the West Coast

The Privateers finished 0-2 at the Acrisure Holiday Invitational, falling at Fresno State 85-76 on Friday night.

After a few brief UNO leads early, Fresno took a narrow advantage in the first half and essentially maintained it the entire remainder of the night. At several points, the Privateers almost pulled even but were unable to secure enough key stops to complete the rally, and the host Bulldogs prevailed somewhat comfortably.

Jay Buckley had an unusual double-double for him, notching 25 points and a whopping 14 rebounds, though dishing out only two assists. M.J. Thomas added 16 points and 8 rebounds.

The road only gets tougher, as New Orleans takes on SEC and Big 12 opponents next week, heading to Mississippi State on Monday and Texas Tech on Wednesday before Thanksgiving break.

UNO Falls at Pepperdine in Holiday Tourney

The Privateers dropped a 90-79 decision at Pepperdine in the first game of the Acrisure Holiday Tournament in California on Tuesday night.

New Orleans quickly fell behind by 16 points and spent the rest of the night trying to recover. They got as close as one point late in the second half but couldn't quite break through, as the Waves' dependable free throw shooting carried them through the endgame to a victory.

Panagiotis Pagonis co-led the Privateers with 17 points. Coleton Benson, after being shut down in the first half, found his stroke and also ended up with 17 points. Jay Buckley added 15.

UNO hit 12 three-pointers and outrebounded the Waves 40-35, but the game was decided by the lopsided turnover margin; UNO had 17 to Pepperdine's 6, and the Waves scored 22 points off turnovers.

New Orleans will stay on the West Coast and take on Fresno State on Friday night.

UNO Sneaks Into Mid-Major Top 25

The Privateers, fresh off a drubbing of Tulane, appeared at #24 in the Mid-Major Madness Top 25 rankings this week. The trouncing of the Green Wave, in addition to their victory over TCU on November 3, has gotten New Orleans some recognition early in the season.

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.