Long-range shooting overcomes turnovers in Colonels’ 89-77 win at UNO

The quality of the opponent can certainly make a difference.

Last Saturday, when Nicholls turned the ball over 21 times, the Colonels lost at home to McNeese State 74-47.

In Monday’s game at the University of New Orleans, the Colonels turned the ball over 26 times and the Privateers came up with 15 steals, but Nicholls came away with an 89-77 win.

The difference, McNeese is the top team in the Southland Conference at 12-1 and 23-3 overall. UNO is last in the 10-team league at 3-11 in the league and 8-19 overall. The Privateers have lost 10 of their last 11 games.

Still, it was a bounce-back win for the Colonels from the McNeese defeat as Nicholls improved to 9-4 in the SLC and 14-12 overall.

Despite the poor ball handling, several aspects factored in the win for the Colonels.

After getting off to a slow shooting start, the Colonels ended up shooting 50 percent from the field, hitting on 25 of 50 attempts. They also shot 47.3 percent from 3-point range, knocking down 9 of 19 from distance.

By contrast, the Privateers shot only 38.9 percent from the field, hitting 28 of 72 attempts. UNO was 1 of 17 from 3-point range.

The Colonels were also 30 of 34 from the free-throw line.

Nicholls out-rebounded UNO 47-29, including a 36-16 advantage on the defensive boards.

Both teams got off to poor shooting starts.

As of the 7:22 mark of the first half, the Colonels were only 6 of 17 from the field and 3 of 8 from 3-point range. By contrast, the Privateers were 7 of 19 from the field and 0 of 6 from 3-point distance.

At that point, Nicholls held a mere 22-21 lead.

It was at that point where the Colonels started to get hot from distance.

A layup by Byron Ireland, along with 3-pointers by Rob Brown III and Ireland gave Nicholls a double-digit lead for the first time int the game at 33-23.

Nicholls managed a lead of as many as 12 points before the Privateers scored the final five points of the opening half.

Jordan Johnson hit two free throws before Carlos Hart stole and scored off an inbound pass and added the free throw to inch UNO to within 41-34 at halftime.

By the 12:26 mark of the second half, Nicholls had rebuilt its lead to 12 points.

The Colonels had upped their field goal shooting to 48.7 percent (19 of 39), and 3-point accuracy to 53.3 percent (8 of 15).

Meanwhile UNO was at 34.8 percent shooting (16 of 46) and only 1 of 13 from 3-point range.

At that point, Nicholls had a 37-18 edge in rebounding, including 26-11 on the defensive boards.

Keeping the Privateers relatively close was an 18-7 edge in turnovers and an advantage of 15-2 in fast-break points.

The closest the Privateers would get in the second half was nine points at 61-52 on a basket in the paint by Tyson Jackson at the 10:50 mark

The biggest lead for Nicholls in the second half was 18 points on three different occasions as the Colonels went on to take the 12-point win.

Diante Smith had a double-double for Nicholls with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Brown led all scorers with 24 points. Ireland added 12 for the Colonels.

Jamal West, who was limited to two points in the first half, finished with 12 points and nine rebounds.

Hart led UNO with 20 points and seven rebounds. Johnson and Jah Short added 13 apiece for the Privateers. Mason Jones chipped in 10.