ABILENE – Coming off its first Southland Conference win of the season after handing Sam Houston States its first league loss, the McNeese Cowboys will be looking to put together its first winning streak of the year when it takes on Abilene Christian at 7 p.m. here Tuesday night.
The game will broadcast on the McNeese Sports Network – Cajun Radio 1470 and 1290 am and online at www.CajunRadio.com.
The Cowboys (3-11, 1-3) will be going up against an ACU team (7-10, 2-2) that has posted a 5-2 record in its home venue of Moody Coliseum including a 15-point win over Northwestern State in its last home outing.
A quick start, much like the one that saw McNeese jump out to a 9-0 lead over Sam Houston State, will be a welcome sight for head coach
Dave Simmons.
"I think that's the best start to a game that we've had all year," said Simmons. "We moved the ball around really well and knocked down our open shots."
One reason the Cowboys were so successful was due to the play of true freshman
James Harvey who scored 23 points and knocked down 5 of 7 from 3-point range. His outside aim allowed others to take advantage of driving to the basket.
"He's been having great practices," said Simmons of Harvey. "We knew we needed to get him more minutes. With him hitting his 3s that allowed guys like Tevin (Jackson) to help Craig (McFerrin) down low and score in the lane."
Jackson scored a career-high 17 points with half of his baskets on layups while McFerrin recorded his fourth double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds as all three of his field goals came in the paint. It was his second double-double in the last three games.
McNeese scored 24 of its 72 points in the paint and 30 points from 10 three-point goals. It's the second time this season the Cowboys have hit 10 or more in a game from long range.
Junior guard
Jamaya Burr continues to lead the team in scoring, now at 14.6 per game. McFerrin tops the team with 7.1 rebounds a game to go along with a 9.2 scoring average while
Jarren Greenwood (8.4) and Jackson (7.3) follow.
Harvey saw his scoring average jump from 4.7 to 6.0 after his outing against SHSU. He also became the first McNeese true freshman to score 20 or more in a game since Patrick Richard scored 24 at Nicholls in January of 2009.
ACU is led in scoring by true freshman guard Jaylen Franklin who is sinking 14.7 points a game.
Tuesday's game will be the sixth meeting in the series with McNeese winning the previous five, including the last two meetings since renewing the series after last playing in 1973. The Cowboys won 63-56 last year in Lake Charles. This will be the first time playing in Abilene since restarting the series.
McNeese will return home on Saturday when it hosts Northwestern State in the second half of a doubleheader.
