NATCHITOCHES, La. (November 22, 2024) – The University of North Alabama men's basketball team will get a taste of tournament play this weekend in Louisiana, as the Lions will play back-to-back matchups against Louisiana-Monroe and Northwestern State at the City of Lights MTE hosted in Natchitoches.
This will be the only regular season tournament for North Alabama this season.
Saturday's game will not have a video or audio stream, but Sunday's game will air on ESPN+. Both games will have live stats and social media updates.
GAMEDAY INFORMATION
Saturday, Nov. 23: North Alabama vs. ULM — 4 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 24: North Alabama at Northwestern State — 2 p.m.
Location: Natchitoches, Louisiana
Venue: Prather Coliseum
Capacity: 3,900
Watch:
ESPN+ (Sunday only)
Live Stats:
SIDEARM
Tickets:
Click Here
Game Notes:
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Social Media:
@UNA_Basketball
NOTES
LAST TIME OUT: UNA took on a true national championship contender on Monday, falling 102-69 against No. 4 Auburn inside Neville Arena. The Lions took a 33-32 lead with 5:12 remaining in the first half, as sophomore
Canin Jefferson sank a three-pointer to put his team ahead for the third time of the game. However, Auburn's Johni Broome ended the final five minutes of the half with 13 points. The 2024 Third Team All-American finished with 30 points in the win.
WATCH OUT FOR LANE: Junior guard
Jacari Lane is averaging 21.8 points per game and has scored in double figures all five times this season. This includes a career-high 32 points against Samford last Friday and a team-high 16 points at Auburn. Lane was named to the Lou Henson Award Early Watch List on Tuesday, which honors the top player in Mid-Major College Basketball each season. Lane is also the reigning Atlantic Sun Conference Player of the Week, winning the award for the third time in three seasons. His 21.8 PPG average leads the ASUN.
SCOUTING THE LIONS: UNA enters this weekend's MTE with a 3-2 overall record. The Lions started 3-0 for the second time in three seasons with wins over Air Force, Point and UT Martin. The last two games have been against the two toughest opponents on the schedule (according to KenPom), including a 97-96 overtime loss to defending Southern Conference champion Samford and the 102-69 loss to No. 4 Auburn. UNA is averaging 83.8 PPG while allowing 76.6.
SCOUTING THE WARHAWKS: Louisiana-Monroe enters with a 2-4 overall record following a tough home loss to Southeastern Louisiana, 70-67. Both wins were against non-Division I opponents, while losses include LSU, Tulane, Rice and SLU. The Warhawks have 10 returning players, including junior guard Jalen Bolden who averages 13.3 PPG on a 41.0 shooting percentage.
SCOUTING THE DEMONS: Northwestern State enters the weekend with a 1-3 record, including a 96-55 win over Dallas Christian and losses to Oklahoma, Texas Tech and Rice. The Demons played a home exhibition Tuesday, winning 121-49 over John Melvin. The team is officially led by senior guard Jon Sanders II, who despite just one start in four games leads the team with 15.3 PPG over 22.5 minutes per game.
SERIES HISTORY: Saturday will be the first meeting between UNA and ULM. However, the Lions and Demons will meet for the fourth time Sunday. The two sides battled in 1974, 1975 and 1976 as members of the Gulf South Conference. Northwestern State won the first and last meetings, while UNA won the middle meeting with a 79-69 win in 1975. This will be UNA's first trip to Natchitoches since 1976.
COMING BACK TO THE BAYOU: UNA will make its first trip to Louisiana for a basketball game since 2019, where the Lions fell to Louisiana Tech. This game came immediately after a trip to South Dakota State, where the two campuses are separated by 1,007 miles and a 14 hour, 49 minute driving distance.
COMING UP ON 1K: Two UNA players are approaching 1,000 career points at UNA. Lane has 997 career points and needs just three to join the prestigious 1,000 point club early into his junior season. Senior
Daniel Ortiz, who spent two seasons at UNA before transferring to UAB last season, is back at UNA. He has 1,198 career points, but 966 of those were scored at UNA. He needs 34 to reach the 1,000 mark as a Lion. There are currently 27 players in school history to reach the 1,000 point mark, last accomplished by Jamari Blackmon in 2022.
IN THE RANKS: UNA is 162 in the KenPom rankings, which is the highest ranking in school history. UNA also received 12 votes in the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 Poll this week after receiving one in the preseason poll and one in the first poll on Nov. 11.
NEW KID ON THE BLOCK: Redshirt sophomore
Corneilous Williams, a former redshirt at LSU and transfer from Western Carolina, is averaging 9.2 PPG and 8.6 rebounds over five games. He notched back-to-back double-doubles against UT Martin and Samford, including 17 points and 16 rebounds against the Bulldogs for new career-high totals.
OLD MAN: Soucie has played in 121 career games for UNA, the most among current players. Soucie has played in every game across the last three seasons and has only missed one regular season game in his time at UNA. He broke the UNA Division I record for most games played in the last game of 2023-24. He is off the best start of his career with 11.2 PPG to rank second on the team. Soucie had 15 points at Auburn, shooting 7-13 from the field.
SOPHOMORE SHINE: Sophomore guard
Canin Jefferson has no intentions to slump after his rookie season. The guard is averaging 9.0 PPG over five games, including double figure scoring in three of the last four games. Last season, he only had one game in double figures with 11 points vs. Rust College. He scored 14 points against Point and 12 each against UT Martin and Samford.
HOMECOMING: Ortiz will hope to score his 1,000th career point in his home state, as Natchitoches is just over an hour away from his hometown of Shreveport. Jefferson will also play in his home state for the first time at the college level, as Natchitoches is four hours away from New Orleans. Williams will be just five hours away from his hometown of Beaumont, Miss.
TURNOVER TREND: Through five games, UNA ranks atop the ASUN and 27th in the nation with a plus-6.0 turnover margin. Prior to Auburn, UNA ranked 14th at plus-8.0. There are 355 teams included in those rankings.
LOCKDOWN DEFENSE: In the first two games, UNA held both Air Force and Point below 60 points. The Lions accomplished this just twice all of last season against Bellarmine (69-53) and Jacksonville State (61-59).
ON DECK: UNA returns home on Wednesday, Nov. 27 to host Dalton State at 1 p.m. This will be the final game before Thanksgiving, as UNA will host a canned food drive in the lobby of CB&S Bank Arena.
For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
