WATCH | LISTEN | LIVE STATS | TWITTER
 

SAN ANTONIO -- Fresh off of two near misses, The University of the Incarnate Word men's basketball team (6-13, 1-5) seeks to get back into the victory column on Saturday against Southland Conference opponent New Orleans (9-9, 4-3) at the McDermott Center on campus. The game begins at 3 p.m. as part of a doubleheader with the Cardinal women's team, which tips off against the Privateers at 12:15 p.m.
 
The Cardinal men put themselves in a position to win games against Stephen F. Austin and Lamar last week, missing the potentially tying jump shot in the last seconds of last Saturday's 77-74 loss to the Lumberjacks and forcing overtime in Wednesday night's 77-71 defeat by LU. UIW played competitively despite the continuation of a season-long injury streak.
 
PEEVY IS THE CARDINALS' COMEBACK KID
UIW's Christian Peevy has reestablished himself as UIW's primary scoring threat, both from the floor and from the line. Against SFA, the sophomore forward scored 16 points, which included ten free throws. He also snagged three rebounds and stole the ball thrice.
 
Four days later against Lamar, Peevy hit nine of 18 shots from the floor and seven of eight free throws to record 26 points. He gathered seven rebounds, contributed four assists and had two steals. With 1.7 seconds remaining in the second half, having led the Cardinals on a 14-point comeback, Peevy hit a short jumper to tie the score, 74-74, and send the game into overtime.
 
Christian's recent stellar play has reemerged only six weeks after he sustained an injury in the Dec. 9 game against LSU, which caused him to miss the final two games of the non-conference schedule -- a road trip to his home town of Chicago. Prior to that mishap, was on a scoring binge, having hit for no less than 23 points in each of three preceding games, against Northern Colorado (26), Southern Illinois-Edwardsville (32) and Trin­ity (23). He had 16 when he fell against LSU.
 
Peevy is the nation's 21^st-ranked Division I free throw shooter, hitting 89.4 percent of his attempts.
 
UIW CONTINUES TO SCORCH FROM LINE
With a 23 for 28 performance against SFA and with 13 of 15 against Lamar, the Cardinals continue to lead all Division I teams in free-throw shooting. According to the latest NCAA statistics published Friday, UIW has hit 81.2 percent of its shots from the charity stripe, leading second-place Hofstra, which is making 79.3 percent of its attempts.
 
Individually, sophomore Christian Peevy is the nation's 21st-ranked free throw shooter, having made 76 out of 85 shots for a percentage of 89.4. Three other Cardinals, Augustine Ene (87.9), Antoine Smith Jr. (85.7), and Charles Brown III (85.0) are hitting more than four of five free throws, but do not qualify for an individual ranking because they do not meet the required number of makes (2.5 times the number of games played). However, their totals combine to enhance the team's ranking.
 
UIW LEADING IN HARVARD RESEARCH
The University of the Incarnate Word's men's basketball team is one of four Division I college basketball teams that have started 11 different players this season. Harvard, Princeton and Eastern Washington are the others. This information emanates from Harvard University basketball sports information director Zach Reynolds.
 
For UIW, this phenomenon occurs primarily as the result of an injury bug that has plagued the squad for the entirety of the season. When play began, four players were sidelined because of injuries sustained in the preseason. Only ten Cardinals dressed for most of November and December, with that count dropped to eight when others were hurt. Over the holiday break, a few players recuperated but were replaced on the injury list by others.
 
Wednesday night in Beaumont, UIW dressed ten players, but only nine were healthy enough to play.
 
PRIVATEERS MEET OLD COACH
UIW assistant basketball coach Kenyon Spears is coaching against a former employer for the second game in a row. Coach Spears was the top assistant basketball coach and recruiting coordinator at UNO for three seasons, from 2012 to 2015. Wednesday night, Spears coached against Lamar, where he played for four years and coached as a graduate assistant for two. Kenyon is in his 15^th year as a Division I men's basketball coach.
 

For the most up-to-date information on UIW Athletics, visit uiwcardinals.com, follow the Cardinals on Twitter @UIWAthletics and like UIW Athletics on Facebook at UIW Athletics.