HAMMOND – McNeese has played both ends of the spectrum through the first four games of the Southland Conference season – the good shooting, good defense, winning end and the not-so-good, poor shooting end.
 
The Cowboys will look to get back to that positive end on Sunday afternoon when they visit Southeastern Louisiana in hopes to get above the .500 mark in league play.
 
Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. at SLU's University Center, or 30 minutes following a 1 o'clock game between the Cowgirls and Lions.
 
McNeese (5-10, 2-2 SLC) has dropped two straight league games after knocking off Northwestern State and Stephen F. Austin to open the conference season. The Cowboys fell by 7 to league-favorite Sam Houston State then 11 at Houston Baptist.
 
All four games were against opponents picked to finish in the top five in the final conference standings and all came in an 8-day span.
 
Now the Cowboys have been off from competition for seven days and have worked hard during that time to regroup, refresh and return to their winning ways.
 
"We've gotten a lot of work in during the time off (from games)," said head coach Dave Simmons whose Cowboys are just one game out of first place in the loss column.
 
"We had a brutal stretch there to start the conference season. We should be fresh and ready to go on Sunday."
 
The game was moved from Saturday at the request of Southeastern Louisiana.
 
The Cowboys have been working hard on their shooting, something that has doomed them in both of their league losses.
 
McNeese enters the game ranked 13^th (out of 13 teams) in the league in field goal shooting at 39 percent. In conference games only, McNeese is still 13^th but at 41 percent.
 
In the two league wins, the Cowboys knocked down 44 percent in both games while in the two losses, 35 and 30 percent respectively.
 
"That's something we've been working non-stop on," said Simmons of the shooting. "We also have to have guys stay in the game."
 
Simmons is referring to the foul trouble McNeese faced in the last two games.
 
Stephen Ugochukwu, who leads the team in scoring in league games, has fouled out in 3 of 4 SLC games. He fouled out against Sam Houston State with 9 minutes to play and the Cowboys trailing by just 1 point. He was whistled for three fouls within a minute span in the first minute of the second half. He played 17 minutes in the game and just two minutes in the second half.
 
At HBU, the junior forward fouled out with just under 2 minutes to play and the Cowboys trailing by six points.
 
In addition to Ugochukwu's foul woes, junior forward LaBarrius Hill has been less than 100-percent due to a sprained toe.
 
The absence of Hill, who leads the team in blocked shots and is third in rebounding, has been highly noticeable in the rebounding the department where the Cowboys have been outmuscled on the glass 96-72 in the last two games.
 
SLU (10-8, 3-2) is coming off a 56-50 win at Abilene Christian to snap a two-game losing streak.
 
The Lions are the second straight Southland team to face that has not dropped a game at home this season (7-0).
 
SLU has three players averaging double-digits in scoring, led by sophomore guard Marlain Veal with 13.9 points per game.
 
The Lions swept the season series last season over the Cowboys, winning 79-76 in overtime in Lake Charles, and 82-80 in Hammond.
 
Following Sunday's game, the Cowboys will return home on Wednesday night against Central Arkansas, who is in a tie for first place in the league standings.