HAMMOND – McNeese will carry its longest winning streak in five years at four games, into Wednesday's Southland Conference contest against Southeastern Louisiana.
Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. at SLU's University Center. The game will broadcast on Cajun Radio 1290 AM and CajunRadio.com while a video stream will be available on the Southeastern Louisiana YouTube page. Links can be found on McNeeseSports.com.
The Cowboys (9-9, 4-3 SLC) are tied for fifth place in the conference standings with Northwestern State, but just two games out of first place.
McNeese snapped a 6-game losing streak to New Orleans this past Saturday in a 65-52 win at UNO for the team's first win in the Crescent City since the 2013-14 season.
In Saturday's game,
Sha'markus Kennedy led the Cowboys with 21 points and 14 rebounds as he recorded his second straight double-double. He was awarded the league's player of the week honor for his performance – his third of the season.
Kennedy is ranked fourth in the conference in scoring (16.4) and second in rebounding (9.5) and is the only player in the league to be ranked in the top five in those categories.
A.J. Lawson is second on the team in scoring with a 16.3 average while
Dru Kuxhausen is knocking in 15.7 per game.
Roydell Brown (8.1 ppg, 7.4 rpg) and
Myles Hutchinson (3.0 ppg, 1.4 apg) are expected to round out the starting five.
SLU (5-13, 2-5 SLC) is coming off a 76-55 loss to Abilene Christian in its last outing and has dropped three of its last four games.
FAST BREAK FACTS:
• McNeese is 7-3 since Dec. 1.
• The Cowboys have 9 wins through 18 games for the first time since the 2010-11 season which was also the last time McNeese won the Southland Conference title.
• McNeese's 4-3 league record through 7 contests is the best mark since starting out 4-3 in the 2013-14 season.
• During the current winning streak,
A.J. Lawson leads the way in scoring with a 21.3 average while
Sha'markus Kennedy is scoring 19.5 points with 12 rebounds per game and
Dru Kuxhausen at 15.3 ppg.
• Kennedy is hitting 70 percent of his shots (35-50) during the streak.
• Kennedy is the only player in the Southland Conference in the top 5 in scoring (16.4) and rebounding (9.5).
• He's ranked 4th in the league in scoring and is the only player in the top 20 in scoring without a 3-pointer made.
• McNeese had held its last two opponents to less than 60 points scoring - 56 by UIW and 52 by UNO.
• The Cowboys are 8-2 on the season when out-rebounding their opponent.
RECORD PACE FOR 3s:
• With 163 three-pointers and a .420 percentage, the Cowboys are on pace to break the single-season school record of 226 made (2010-11) and .370 percentage (2002-03).
• Individually,
Dru Kuxhausen has made 78 threes on the season, tying him with Ledrick Eackles (2013-14) for 9th in the school single-season record list.
• His .503 three-point percentage is currently 53 points better than the school record of .450 set by Edward Garriet in 2002-03.
• His 4.3 3FG/G has him on pace for 133 for the year which would break the school record of 107 held by Demond Mallet (2000-01) and the Southland Conference mark of 115 (Paul Marshall, ULM, 1996).
McNeese Single-Season 3-Pointers Made
107 Demond Mallet (2000-01)
94 Demond Mallet (1997-98)
89 Edward Garriet (2003-04)
87 Jason Coleman (2002-03)
87 Damon Wordlaw (1994-95)
86 Diego Kapelan (2010-11)
86 Diego Kapelan (2009-10)
79
James Harvey (2018-19)
78 Dru Kuxhausen (2019-20)
78 Ledrick Eackles (2013-14)
Single-Season 3FG Percent (minimum 3 FG att/g)
.500 Dru Kuxhausen (72-144, 2019-20)
.450 Edward Garriet (50-111, 2002-03)
.444 Tab Harris (43-99, 1987-88)
.441 Jason Coleman (71-161, 1999-00)
.431
Sam Baker (25-58, 2019-20)
SERIES VS. SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA
• Wednesday's game will be the 115th meeting in the series as the Cowboys hold a 64-50 advantage all-time.
• The Lions have won three straight in the series and 6 of the last 7 matchups.
• SLU has won 8 of the last 10 games played in its home arena.
• The Lions won 88-52 last February in Hammond and swept the series with a 74-71 win at McNeese.
