LAKE CHARLES – McNeese will look to remain perfect at home while aiming for its third-straight win when it hosts Paul Quinn on Wednesday in the second game of a double-header with the Cowgirls.
 
Tip-off will be approximately 7:30 for the final non-conference contest before league play begins on Saturday at home against Stephen F. Austin. This will be McNeese's third of five straight games at home.
 
The DH has been designated as First Responders Day as all of those that protect and serve (military, firefighters, law enforcement, EMT, etc.) will be admitted free with a valid ID. Children 12 and under will also receive a free ticket with a Toys For Tots donation at the door.
 
The Cowboys (4-6) are 4-0 in the H&HP Arena this season and are averaging just under 2,500 fans a game, second in the league to Stephen F. Austin by just a couple hundred fans.
 
McNeese will enter Wednesday's game with the nation's 24^th-highest scoring offense with an 81.2 average. At home, the Cowboys are outscoring their opponents by a 99-54.5 margin.
 
Three players are averaging double-figures in scoring – Sha'Markus Kennedy (17.1), Dru Kuxhausen (15.0) and A.J. Lawson (14.8) as four more players are averaging five points or better a game.
 
Kennedy, the reigning NCAA Mid-Major, Southland Conference and Louisiana Player of the Week, is coming off the program's first triple-double in 11 years after he recorded 17 points, 10 rebounds and 10 blocked shots in an 82-73 win over the WAC's Kansas City last Tuesday night.
 
The senior forward leads the league and is ranked 12^th in the NCAA in field goal shooting by hitting 67 percent of his targets (67 of 100) while his 2.8 blocks per game average is ranked second in the conference and 17^th in the nation. He's currently ranked fourth in the league in scoring and second in rebounding (8.9).
 
Kuxhausen tops the nation with three-point field goals made per game (4.2) and is second with 42 total threes. The junior guard is hitting 51.2 percent (42-82) from behind the arc, ranking him No. 1 in the Southland Conference and eighth nationally.
 
Lawson is coming off his second-career 30-point game (his first was when he was a freshman at North Texas) and is just the fourth player from the league this season to score 30 when he sank that amount against KC.
 
The junior guard's 14.8 scoring average ranks him 12^th in the conference while his 3.1 assists per game mark is tied for ninth.
 
As a team, McNeese is second in the nation in three-point field goal shooting (42.8 percent) and fourth in total field goal shooting (52 percent).
 
Paul Quinn (2-11) is a member of the Red River Athletic Conference with teams like LSU-Shreveport and LSU-Alexandria.
 
The Tigers have dropped two straight games, and included in their 11 losses are defeats at the hands of conference opponents Sam Houston State (95-57) and Nicholls (81-66) and will play Stephen F. Austin on Dec. 28.
 
Paul Quinn is led in scoring by junior forward Mateo Eschelk with an 18.7 average while junior forward Spencer McElway is sinking 14.5 points per game and senior guard D'angelo Streeter with a 13.5 mark.
 
Wednesday's game will be the second meeting between the two schools with McNeese having won the first outing by a 101-54 score on Dec. 1, 2009.
 
GAME DAY NOTABLES
• McNeese will be looking for its first three-game winning streak under head coach Heath Schroyer.
• It's the first time since the 2014-15 season that McNeese has won four games in its first 10 of the season.
• Sha'Markus Kennedy's Southland Conference Player of the Week honor marks his second award of the first six weeks of the season.
• McNeese is ranked No. 1 in the league in FG percentage (52.0) and 3FG percentage (42.8), and is ranked No. 2 in fewest fouls, scoring offense (81.2), 3FG made per game (8.9), Total 3FG made (89), and total assists (163).