DALLAS – The McNeese Cowboys will carry a two-game winning streak into Moody Coliseum on Thursday night against SMU to kick-off a three-game, week-long road trip as the Cowboys have started showing signs of dusting off the newness of playing with 10 new players while a rotation is becoming more and more clear.
Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. The game will broadcast on the McNeese Radio Network (1470 and 1290 AM) and also online at McNeeseSports.com.
"We've grown closer to solidify our rotation," said head coach
Heath Schroyer. "Part of that is trying to find the 8-9 guys and trying to figure out who can play really well with who; what's the best combination; what's the best team against the zone; what's the best team for us to maybe pick up the zone."
The Cowboys (2-3) are coming off an 80-42 win over Mississippi College and prior to that, defeated Mobile 74-60. In those two games combined, McNeese got 87 points off the bench.
"There are a lot of things that go into trying to figure out your team," said Schroyer. "Being able to get production off the bench is really important to me and us going forward to make us the best team we can."
The Cowboys have three players averaging in double-figure scoring, led by
Malik Hines with a 13.6 average while
James Harvey is knocking in 11.0 and
Kevin Hunt 10.2 per game.
Hines leads the Southland Conference and is ranked No. 10 in the nation in field goal shooting at 72.5 percent (29 of 40) and has scored 20 or more points in five games this early going.
Defensively, McNeese possesses two of the top players in the nation in terms of rebounding and blocked shots.
Roydell Brown leads the league and is ranked 15
th in the nation in rebounding with a 10.8 per game average. He's also 10
th nationally with three double-doubles on the year.
Meanwhile, Sha'Markus Kennedy tops the conference and is 14
th nationally in blocked shots with a 2.8 per game average.
"Those three guys have really done a good job," said Schroyer. "You look at a kid like Roydell who can play a couple of different positions. Sha'Markus is a special talent. He's a special rim protector. I said that when I recruited him. And obviously Malik has shown that he has the ability to put us on his back at times and really score the ball."
SMU (4-3) has also won two straight and is coming off a 79-65 win over Southland Conference rival Lamar on Tuesday night.
The Mustangs are led in scoring by Jahmal McMurray's 19.0 average.
"SMU is really good and really talented," said Schroyer. "Every team presents a challenge. Their challenge for us is they've shown some full court pressure and some three-quarter court pressure, so I'm sure we'll see some of that. They have really big, athletic long wings. They put five guys on the floor that can all get down hill and put the ball on the floor.
"We have to be connected defensively and figure out how to score, especially early in the game. I think the three keys for us will be, number one, handling their pressure; number two, being able to defend them off the bounce; and number three, being able to score and find a rhythm offensively early in the game."
Following Thursday's game, McNeese will fly out of Dallas to Durham, North Carolina for a Saturday afternoon contest against North Carolina Central. The team will then travel to Starkville to take on 25
th-ranked Mississippi State on Tuesday night before returning home.
"North Carolina Central played in the NCAA Tournament last year and Mississippi State is nationally ranked. We have our work cut out for us but we have to continue to get better and play well this week.
"Our guys are looking forward to getting back out on the road and hopefully build on the success we've had the last couple of games. If you're going to win a conference championship you have to figure out how to win on the road."
McNeese is 0-3 all-time against the Mustangs and last played in December of 2016, falling by a 92-56 score.
