Thursday night’s home loss to Texas A&M-Commerce really stung UNO men’s basketball coach Mark Slessinger because he saw how close his team was to the top of the Southland Conference.
In a wide open league just about anyone could win, the Privateers jumped out to a 13-2 lead before the first media timeout. They still led 37-27 at halftime, limiting forward Demarcus Demonia, the Southland’s leading scorer, to 1-of-7 shooting and four points while their own big men — Simeon Kirkland and Tyson Jackson — combined to go 7 of 8.
Then they threw it all away after the break — sometimes literally — committing 11 turnovers to the Lions’ one and sputtering to a 63-58 defeat.
With co-leaders Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Southeastern falling to cellar dwellers Lamar and Northwestern State, respectively, UNO (6-11, 3-3) missed a golden opportunity to pull into a four-way tie for first place. The Privateers cannot afford another loss when they close out a two-game home stretch against Northwestern State (11-8. 3-3) on Saturday at Lakefront Arena (4 p.m. tipoff).
“This league is as wide open as I’ve ever seen it in 20 years,” Slessinger said. “Literally from the top to the bottom every night is a for-real game. There are no cakewalks from top to bottom, and everybody’s got a shot. We’ve got to make sure we stay the course because anything can happen. Whoever they think the champion is right now probably will not be the champion at the end.”
Second-half slip-ups have become common for UNO, which led Incarnate Word 43-30 at halftime last week before barely getting out alive, benefiting from a charge call in the final seconds of regulation after a turnover and winning in overtime. The Privateers led Houston Christian by seven early in the second half of their league opener but lost in overtime.
With decent execution down the stretch, they could be alone in first place at 5-1 instead of tied for fifth at 3-3.
“We’ve got to figure out how we can take it and build on the first-half lead and close out these games,” Slessinger said. “We’re doing a great job of executing in the first half. We’ve got to figure out to put the back 20 (minutes) together.”
The potential is there. By hitting his first six shots on Thursday, Jackson extended an extraordinary streak to 22 made baskets over a stretch of five games before finally missing a driving lay-up with 1:24 left. Kirkland scored a season-high 15 — two shy of his career best — while matching Jackson’s 6-of-7 shooting. The duo also had 19 rebounds.
Kirkland’s emergence with 28 points and 19 rebounds in the past two games gives UNO a dangerous double post presence. Jackson has scored in double figures in seven of the past eight games.
“They played extremely well,” Slessinger said. “They gave us a huge night. It was an extremely physical game inside, if we had gotten it to them a few more times, they probably would have made a few more, too.”
In contrast, Demonia never got comfortable for the Lions, finishing 3 of 15 for nine points while failing to reach double figures for the first time since Dec. 6. The Privateers played winning ball in several areas but were done in by their unforced errors. They missed 9 of 22 free throws, and leading scorer Jordan Johnson committed six of their 18 turnovers to go along with his 15 points and six assists.
“I don’t think we’ve been far off all year,” Slessinger said. “There’s just some detail stuff we’ve got to sharpen up and get better at."