NEW ORLEANS, La. -- Seeking to stretch increasingly longer periods of productive play into 40 minutes of winning basketball, the University of the Incarnate Word men's team embarks upon its first of three consecutive road trips on Saturday, meeting the University of New Orleans for a scheduled 4:15 p.m. tipoff at Lakefront Arena.
As the Cardinals (6-15, 1-7) open the second half of Southland Conference play, they will attempt to atone for last week's 61-52 loss to the Privateers in San Antonio. UIW held a 12-point lead with 15 minutes remaining in last Saturday's game, but the Privateers (11-9, 6-3) then took advantage of 52 percent field goal shooting and a plethora of free throws. UNO took 15 shots from the charity stripe in the second period, making 11. Concomitantly, the Cardinals were awarded no free throws.
Then, on Wednesday night against HBU in the McDermott Center, the Cardinals led by nine after four minutes had elapsed in the second half. The Huskies then went on a 9-0 run to even the game -- a contest in which there were 20 lead changes and 15 tie scores. After the score was tied with two and one-half minutes remaining, HBU rallied to win, 96-92 –- shooting 69 percent in the second half after the Cardinals' defense had limited HBU to 45 percent shooting in the first half.
SERIES HISTORY
UIW and UNO have met seven times. The Privateers lead the series, 4-3. UIW won the first three games, which began when the Cardinals joined the SLC during the 2013-14 season. The last Cardinal win was a 71-68 game in New Orleans on Jan. 11, 2016.
STILL NUMBER ONE FROM THE CHARITY STRIPE
As it has for most of the season, UIW holds the No. 1 ranking among 351 Division I men's college basketball teams regarding free throw accuracy. According to NCAA statistics published on Thursday, UIW is making 81.6 percent of its free throws, leading second-place Hofstra by 1.9 percent.
Christian Peevy is ranked 14th nationally with 90 percent.
Morgan Taylor is ranked 199th (79.1 percent) among thousands of D1 basketball players.
Three other Cardinals,
Augustine Ene (89.2),
Antoine Smith Jr. (87.0), and
Charles Brown III (85.7) 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.
DWIGHT MURRAY JR. REWRITES OWN RECORD BOOK
Freshman
Dwight Murray Jr. enjoyed a personal record-setting day against HBU on Wednesday. In addition to scoring 20 points, which topped his previous high of 18 achieved on two occasions earlier this year, "DJ" hit four for four from the free throw line and contributed three assists.
JORDAN CARUSO HAS A CAREER DAY
Against HBU Wednesday, Caruso extensively modified his personal record book. He scored 18 points on six field goals, both personal career records. He tied previous highs with six rebounds, four assists and four free throws made.
OUTSTANDING SHOT BLOCKING AGAINST UNO
Although UIW is not known as a prolific shot-blocking team, the Cardinals had a season-high five blocks against New Orleans on Saturday.
Christian Peevy swatted away three Privateer shots. Antoine Smith and
Augustine Ene had one block each. UIW also out-rebounded New Orleans, 28 to 25.
PEEVY IS PLAYING HIS BEST BASKETBALL
Christian Peevy turned in his second double-double of the season last Saturday night against New Orleans, scoring 20 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. He matched his career high marks in four categories. His 11 rebounds equaled his career high against Trinity earlier this year. His 10 field goals matched his previous personal high, set against Central Arkansas this season. His two steals equaled his overall best, achieved four times earlier. In order to match his three blocked shots against UNO, one must go back to the Cardinals' 2017-18 game against McMurry.
Wednesday night against HBU, Peevy scored 15 points, made all five of his free throw attempts and had four assists.
AUGUSTINE ENE IS THE IRON MAN
Sophomore forward
Augustine Ene broke his personal record for minutes played on two occasions last week. On Saturday against New Orleans, he was in the game for 37 minutes. Then, on Wednesday, he played for all 40 minutes.
