HOUSTON – Three games remain in the 2019-20 basketball regular season for the McNeese Cowboys who are looking to extend that into the postseason for the first time in five years but will need to pick up a win over Houston Baptist here on Saturday to get one step closer.
 
Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. at HBU's Sharp Gym.
 
McNeese (13-15, 8-9 SLC) is coming off a dominating win over Southeastern Louisiana, 104-82, that snapped a six-game losing streak while also holding the No. 8 and final spot for the Southland Conference Tournament.
 
HBU has dropped six straight games and is coming off a 93-85 loss at home against Nicholls to fall to 3-23 overall and 3-14 in the conference.
 
McNeese defeated the Huskies 102-89 back on Jan. 25 in Lake Charles and holds an 18-7 lead in the all-time series.
 
The Cowboys have three players averaging in double-figures on the season, led by Sha'markus Kennedy's 18.4 average which also ranks him tied for second in the conference. He leads the league with 10.7 rebounds per game and also in field goal percentage at 68.3 percent.
 
Dru Kuxhausen is sinking 15.3 points while A.J. Lawson is averaging 15.1.
 
Kuxhausen became McNeese's single-season three-point record holder after he sank seven from long range against SLU to give him 113 on the season and breaking the old mark of 107 that was held by Demond Mallet. He needs just three more to break the conference record of 115.
 
GAMEDAY NOTES:
• McNeese is ranked 2^nd in the SLC in scoring at 80.5 ppg while HBU is last in the league in scoring defense by allowing 94.7 points a game.
• HBU opponents have scored 100 or more points on it 10 times this season.
• Against SLU on Wednesday, McNeese's starters combined to hit 30 of 47 from the field and scored 85 of the team's 104 points.
• It was the 6th 100-point scoring game of the season, a school record... 6-0 when scoring 100 or more.
• Dru Kuxhausen has made at least one three-pointer in all 28 games so far.
• Sha'markus Kennedy as recorded 15 double-doubles on the year, ranking as the second most in school history and tied as the fourth-most in the league. McNeese's Desharick Guidry's 22 in 2015 is the record.
• The Cowboys set a new single-season team assist record against SLU, now with 457 and breaking the old mark of 454 that was set way back in the 1980-81 season.
• McNeese hit 13 threes against SLU, the 9th time this season to knock down double-digit 3s. The Cowboys are 7-2 when hitting 10 or more threes in a game.
• 5-1 in league play when scoring 80 points or more.
• McNeese has dished out 20 or more assists eight times, compiling a 7-1 record when doing so.
 
TIEBREAKER SCENARIO:
• McNeese sits a game ahead of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the loss column but the Islander defeated the Cowboys back on Feb. 5 in Corpus Christi in the only matchup of the season between the two teams. However, if the teams are tied at the end of the regular season, the tiebreaker is not a head-to-head decider since Corpus was the home team when it won. Had the Cowboys won as the visitors, McNeese would hold the tiebreaker via head-to-head.
• If McNeese and Corpus are in a two-way tie, here's how it's broken. The tied team's won-loss record against all other teams each played two times shall be compared. Those opponents that both will see twice and records against: UNO (McN 1-1; AMCC 2-0); Lamar (McN 0-1; AMCC 1-1); HBU (McN 1-0; AMCC 0-1); SLU (McN 2-0; AMCC 0-2); and UIW (McN 1-1; AMCC 1-0). Adding it up, McNeese is 5-3 against those opponents with games against HBU and Lamar remaining while AMCC is 4-4 with games vs. UIW and HBU still to play involving teams that each play twice.