NEW ORLEANS, La. _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears ran into a hot-shooting New Orleans squad on Monday night and it resulted in an 88-63 Southland Conference loss in a makeup game at Lakefront Arena.

The Privateers, who shot just 38.2 in the first meeting _ an 83-79 UCA win on Jan. 6 _ fired it up at a 58.3-percent rate on Monday, including a blistering 65.4 percent in the second half. UNO used a 21-5 run midway through the first half to break the game open and never allowed the Bears to get back in it.

UCA, as has been the norm for most of this season, played without another starter, this time sophomore point guard Collin Cooper, who was out with an arm injury. The Bears lost All-SLC point guard DeAndre Jones to a season-ending knee injury in the opening minute of the first matchup with the Privateers. 

The Bears, fighting fatigue and poor shooting for much of the game, shot just 31.5 percent from the field and went 4 of 21 (19 percent) from three-point range. UCA did pull down 42 rebounds, including a whopping season-high 23 offensive boards, but could not turn those into enough points.

"We started off well,' said UCA head coach Anthony Boone. "We were playing fast, we were sharing the ball. And we should have anticipated it. We're short with our numbers with Coop getting hurt the last game on Saturday. So we lost our point guard. And I didn't apologize but I told the guys I understand, this is the sixth or seventh time that the guys have had to shift their roles, with very little preparation. 

"And that was it, and we couldn't fight through it. Our defense waned, we couldn't finish around the basket. We assaulted the glass and had a lot of looks in the paint that we just couldn't finish. And we've got to be mentally tougher than that. '

The Bears played the Privateers even for about the first nine minutes, leading 13-12 at the 11:45 mark of the first half. But the Privateers found their range, inside and outside, and reeled off a huge offensive run over the next eight minutes that put them safely ahead. UNO shot 52.9 percent in the first half to grab a 44-30 lead at the break. After the solid start, UCA stumbled to 35.5 percent and 2 of 11 from beyond the arc in the opening half.

Senior forward Jared Chatham had his fourth double-double of the season with 14 points and 13 rebounds. Senior guard Rylan Bergersen, who has shouldered most of the weight of having three missing point guards, scored a team-high 16 points and added 4 rebounds and 4 assists. Sophomore Masai Olowokere came off the bench and made 3 of 5 from three-point range for 12 points, while sophomore Khaleem Bennett had 12 points and 6 rebounds for the Bears (3-17, 2-10).

"Jared was great rebounding, and we need that,' said Boone. "We challenged all our guys to beat them on the glass. And I half-joked to the staff that rebounding might be overrated because every time we outrebound a team it seems like we lose. But we just couldn't finish in the paint. 

"And we couldn't stop them from getting in the paint. That was our whole game plan, to keep them from getting in the paint and they still did. We went zone to keep from getting it in there and they still got it right around the basket. We just couldn't execute.'

The Bears, who had just one day between games after a loss at Nicholls on Saturday, have had seven key players miss at least one game this season, including four that were unavailable Monday.

"And the funny thing is, we had a great practice last night,' said Boone. "The guys were energetic and executing everything we wanted to do. Then we got out here and did for just a little bit, but fatigue wore us out and we just couldn't get through it. '

The Bears now return home for three consecutive games, beginning Saturday when they host Abilene Christian at 5 p.m. on Senior Day at the Farris Center.