Dec. 29, 2003
TAMPA, Fla. - New Orleans' A.J. Meredith stripped the ball from Stephen Floyd in the final second to lift the Privateers to a come-from-behind 57-55 win over Texas-Arlington in the opening round of the USF Holiday Classic here Monday night
UNO (6-3) advances to Tuesday's final against the winner of the South Alabama/South Florida at 7 p.m. CT. UTA (4-4) will face the loser at 5 p.m.
UTA was led in scoring by senior forward Derrick Obasohan's 18 points. Sophomore forward Steven Thomas and Floyd added 12 points each. UNO was led by Johnell Smith with 18. Junior center Victor Brown came off the bench for 13 and Meredith added 10.
Down 57-55 with :08.3 seconds to play, UTA's Keith Howell took the inbounds pass, drove into the forecourt and passed to Floyd who was stripped of the ball by Meredith going up for a shot to seal the win.
Tied 27-27 at halftime, neither team led by more than six points in the second half. UTA built a 50-44 lead with 8:18 to play after a 3-pointer by Floyd and two free throws by Thomas. But Meredith converted a lay up and Brown scored on a lay up and converted on one of two free throws to make it 50-49 with 7:12 remaining.
Obasohan scored on a driving lay up with 6:14 to play to make it 52-49. After a lay up and later a free throw by UNO's Bo McCaleb, Obasohan gave UTA a 54-53 lead on a jumper with 3:44 left in the game. A free throw by Roy Johnson gave UTA a 55-53 lead with 2:20 left before Brown put the game away with four straight free throws.
UTA went on a 13-0 run midway through the first half to build a 22-11 lead after a Floyd jumper with 7:50 left in the first half. During the run, UTA held UNO scoreless for 7:19 during the stretch, but stayed in the game with eight unanswered points by Smith, the last a jumper with 5:59 to play in the half.
UNO converted 19 UTA turnovers into 24 points and the Privateers' bench outscored UTA, 17-3.
New Orleans 57, Texas-Arlington 55
Texas-Arlington (4-4) - Obasohan 9-14 0-0 18, Thomas 4-7 4-8 12, Johnson 2-9 4-6 8, Floyd 5-9 0-0 12, K. Howell 0-2 2-2 2, J. Howell 0-1 0-0 0, Dawkins 1-3 0-0 3, Henderson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 21-46 10-16 55.
New Orleans (6-3) - Martin 2-3 0-0 4, Elias 3-5 2-2 8, Meredith 4-7 1-2 10, Smith 7-22 2-2 18, Buggs 0-10 0-0 0, McCaleb 1-5 2-2 4, Brown 4-7 5-5 13, Wilson 0-1 0-0 0, Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Parker 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 21-60 12-13 57.
Halftime: Tied 27-27. Three-point field goals: UTA 3-6 (Floyd 2-3, Dawkins 1-3), UNO 3-24 (Smith 2-11, Meredith 1-4, Wilson 0-1, McCaleb 0-1, Buggs 0-7). Rebounds: UTA 36 (K. Howell 9), UNO 31 (Martin 6). Assists: UTA 8 (K. Howell 3), UNO 12 (Smith and Buggs 3). Turnovers: UTA 19 (Obasohan 5), UNO 10 (Smith 3). Blocks: UTA 2 (Floyd, Johnson 1), UNO 1 (Parker). Steals: UTA 2 (Obasohan, J. Howell), UNO 8 (Wilson, Smith 2). Total fouls: UTA 14, UNO 18. Fouled out: None. Att. 150.
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