UH has work to do

Stuck in basketball limbo, the New Orleans Privateers are still figuring out how low they can go.

A hoops vagabond not eligible for the postseason — UNO is no longer a true Division I team, but not quite Division II — the independent school decided a late-season voyage was in order. Hence the Privateers’ February nonconference appearance on the schedule of the Hawaii men’s basketball team.

UNO’s schedule is a potpourri of NCAA D-I, D-II and NAIA teams.

"It’s just a great life experience for the guys, to bring them out here," said UNO coach Mark Slessinger, who traveled to Hawaii four times as an assistant with Northwestern State. "We ended up having matching dates and it just felt right for both of us. We don’t have a postseason this year, so it kind of takes the place of that for us to be able to get the guys coming by here toward the end of the year."

The Rainbow Warriors (14-10 overall) will try to give the Privateers (15-11) as little hospitality as possible tonight at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Fourth-place UH breaks from Western Athletic Conference action this week, like every other team in the league. After taking on UNO to close a three-game homestand, the ‘Bows depart on their longest road trip of the season to play Montana in a BracketBusters matchup on Saturday.

"I think there’s still a lot of work to be done on this team," UH coach Gib Arnold said. "I think we’re getting better, and even though this is a week where it’s not WAC play, we’re approaching these games seriously, we’re approaching them like any other and we want to get just a little bit better."

UH will try to exploit a size advantage on UNO by going to junior center Vander Joaquim, who now leads the WAC in scoring (18.3), rebounding (10.9), field-goal percentage (.707) and blocks (2.9) in conference games. Senior guard Zane Johnson still leads UH in all games with a 14.9 scoring average, while junior forward Joston Thomas adds 14.0.

Joaquim had 23 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks in UH’s 62-58 win over Fresno State on Saturday. Arnold said UNO is similar to the Bulldogs in that all five players on the floor can dribble-drive.

Like playing D-II opponents such as Hawaii-Hilo, New Orleans will not count toward UH’s RPI, but at this point every win moves UH closer to having a postseason resume.

In the wake of devastating Hurricane Katrina, the original plan was for UNO to transition out of Division I to Division II by the end of July. But Slessinger said something else might be in the works behind new leadership.

"We are still a Division I counter. We were transitioning to Division II at the beginning of the (school) year, but they’ve altered that and are exploring the possibility of staying at Division I," the first-year coach said.

And a UH win is certainly not a given, even with the Privateers’ losses at New Mexico and Colorado by 52 and 58 points, respectively.

UNO is 1-6 against D-I teams this year, with the lone win a 63-56 decision over Alcorn State on Nov. 27. The Privateers also played San Diego close in a 64-56 loss on Nov. 25.

"It’s New Orleans. They’re going to be gritty, you know, come in, they going to be about their business," Thomas said. "And we’re going to have to stop them."

The Privateers’ business starts with point guard Brandon Knight, who boasts an assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.7. If UNO counted in the D-I or D-II ranks, he would lead the country in that category.

"Just gap up and try to pick up all angles and get back, press them, try to cause turnovers," UH backup point guard Bobby Miles said of the plan to stop the 6-foot Knight. "And hopefully he doesn’t get a good assist-to-turnover ratio in this game."

Junior forward Lovell Cook leads UNO in scoring with 14.3 ppg.

UH and UNO last met in 2003, with the ‘Bows winning 92-64.