NATCHITOCHES – McNeese will travel north on Saturday to take on Northwestern State in a game that could affect the seeding when the Southland Conference Men's Basketball Tournament begins in less than four weeks.
 
Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m. at NSU's Prather Coliseum and will follow a 1 o'clock game between the Cowgirls and Lady Demons.
 
McNeese (12-12, 7-6 SLC) is a half game behind the Demons (11-12, 8-6) and Central Arkansas (8-6) in the conference standings and currently sit in seventh place.  All three teams are only a game out of fourth place, a spot that receives a first round bye in the tournament, and two games behind second place Nicholls. The top two seeds will receive a double bye into the semifinal round.
 
The Cowboys have dropped three straight after winning seven-in-a-row while the Demons have won their last three games.
 
McNeese is led both offensively and defensively by player of the year candidate Sha'markus Kennedy who is averaging 18.0 points and 10.7 rebounds per game, ranking third and first respectively in the league.
 
Kennedy recorded his fifth straight double-double, 12^th of the season, in last Saturday's 82-76 overtime loss to Central Arkansas in a game that saw him pull down 21 rebounds. He's averaging 22 points and 15.8 boards the last five outings.
 
Saturday's game will be the second meeting of the season. The Cowboys defeated NSU 85-76 back on Jan. 11 in Lake Charles in a game where Kennedy led the way with 21 points followed by A.J. Lawson with 20.
 
Lawson, who injured his ankle late in the game against UCA and missed the overtime period, will be a game time decision for his availability.
 
Kennedy is expected to be joined in the lineup by Myles Hutchinson (4.1 ppg, 1.5 apg), who is coming off a career-high 19 points against UCA; Dru Kuxhausen (15.0 ppg), who continues to lead the nation in three-pointers made, now with 97; Roydell Brown (8.2 ppg, 7.7 rpg); and Lawson (16.3 ppg, 4.1 apg) if he can go.
 
 
FAST BREAK FACTS:                                             
• McNeese and Northwestern State will meet up for the second time this season in a key Southland Conference game.
• The Cowboys will enter the game having lost three straight while the Demons are going the other way, winners of three in-a-row.
• The two teams are tied with Central Arkansas with six losses in the league standings but both NSU and UCA have one more win than the Cowboys which currently has them in 7th place.
• The Cowboys defeated the Demons 85-76 back on Jan. 11 in Lake Charles for the second of a 7-game winning streak.
• McNeese is 7-1 in league games when leading at the half but 0-5 when trailing at the break.
• The Cowboys' 12 wins are the most in a season since winning 15 games in 2014-15.
• Sha'markus Kennedy is one of two players in NCAA Division I to record multiple 20-rebound games (Aaron Carver of Old Dominion is the other).
• Kennedy's 21 rebounds vs. UCA on Feb. 8 ranks tied as the 5th-most in a game in school history.
• The Cowboys have lost by an average of 6 points in the three-game skid.
• McNeese is the only team in the league with four 30-point scorers on the season - A.J. Lawson (37 at ACU and 30 vs. KC), Sha'markus Kennedy (37 vs. HBU), and Dru Kuxhausen (32 vs. Paul Quinn). Lawson is the only player in SLC with multiple 30-point games.
• A.J. Lawson suffered an ankle injury against UCA and will be a game time decision on Saturday.
• The Cowboys are ranked No. 3 in the NCAA in 3FG percentage (40.7) and 4th in total FG shooting (50.4).
• Kennedy's 12 double-doubles ranks just outside the league's top 10 for most in a season... one more will break him into it.
 
KUXHAUSEN'S RAIN OF 3s CHASING McNEESE, SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE RECORDS:             
• Dru Kuxhausen continues his pace to become the single-season record holder for three-pointers made in school (107) and Southland Conference history (115).
• Kux has drained 97 three-pointers on the year, ranking as the 2nd-most in school history in a season and currently tops the NCAA rankings.
• His .490 3FG percentage is currently 40 points better than the school record of .450 held by Edward Garriet in 2002-03. The SLC record is .476 set by Josh Washington of AMCC in 2007.
• Kuxhausen leads the nation in total 3FG made (97) and 3FG percentage (.490).
 
McNeese Single-Season 3-Pointers Made
1.   107 Demond Mallet (2000-01)
2.   97 Dru Kuxhausen (2019-20)
3.   94 Demond Mallet (1997-98)
4.   89 Edward Garriet (2003-04)
5.   87 Jason Coleman (2002-03)
      87 Damon Wordlaw (1994-95)
 
Single-Season 3FG Percent (minimum 3 FG att/g)
1.   .490          Dru Kuxhausen (97-198, 2019-20)
2.   .450          Edward Garriet (50-111, 2002-03)
3.   .444          Tab Harris (43-99, 1987-88)
 
KENNEDY HAS RECORD IN SIGHT TOO
• Senior forward Sha'markus Kennedy has already tied a single-game school record with 10 blocked shots against Paul Quinn on Dec. 18.
• His current season FG shooting percentage of .667   is threatening a 40 year old school record of .696 held by David Lawrence (1979-80). The conference record is .714 (Jethro Owens, NSU, 1991). Kennedy's mark is currently ranked as the 8th-best in SLC in a single-season
• Kennedy has scored double-figures in 10 straight games and has recorded five consecutive double-doubles.
• He's averaging 22 points and 15.8 rebounds the last five games.
• Kennedy grabbed 20 rebounds against Nicholls on Jan. 29 to become the first player in the league to clean the glass with 20 boards and the first Cowboy to do so since Anthony Pullard grabbed 22 vs. North Texas in the first round of the 1990 SLC Tournament. Three games later he bettered that number with 21 rebounds.
 
SERIES vs. NORTHWESTERN STATE 
• Saturday's game will be the 128th meeting between the two schools with McNeese holding a slight 65-62 lead in the series.
• McNeese beat NSU 85-76 back on Jan. 11 in Lake Charles.
• In that game, Kennedy led the Cowboys with 21 points while Lawson scored 20.