McNeese Notes
SMU Notes

DALLAS – Let the Mayhem Begin!
 
McNeese Basketball will open up its 2021-22 season with a new look from top to bottom when it visits SMU at 7 p.m. on Tuesday night.
 
The game will broadcast live on ESPN+.
 
Under the direction of first-year head coach John Aiken, who will enter his fourth season on the Pokes' sideline, McNeese will debut four new starters and a total of 12 newcomers this season.
 
But don't let the abundance of newcomers sway a decision of a rebuilding year. This team is mature and experienced, especially when it comes to playing in front of big crowds in big arenas.
 
"We're excited and ready to play," said Aiken. "Our guys don't seem nervous at all. We're loose and have had great practices. They're excited. (Brandon) Medley-Bacon was part of a team at Coppin State that beat Loyola, Chicago they year after run in the NCAA Tournament. They also beat East Carolina in a money game when he was there. (Myles) Lewis at VMI last year took Virginia Tech to the wire. Kellon Taylor played in the Atlantic 10 at Duquesne. TJ Moss played in big games and saw real minutes in the SEC while at South Carolina. So they have a high level of confidence going into these games.
 
"It's not your typical first-year group of guys from my standpoint," said Aiken. "Now tomorrow we may get out there on the court and be completely different, but from what I'm seeing, there's not a whole lot of nerves. It's more of a blind confidence."
 
Aiken is expected to start four transfers against SMU – Medley-Bacon, who stands 7-foot-1, at center; 6-5 freshman Johnathan Massie at the point, 6-4 junior guard Zach Scott at the two-guard, and 6-5 graduate transfer Myles Lewis and 6-6 graduate Kellon Taylor at the forward positions.
 
Aiken wants to keep players fresh and create a defensive identity.
 
"I would say 75 percent of our practices have been focused on defense," he said. "Mayhem is the term that we use. It's something we can really brand our defensive identity.
 
"We're obviously going to be tested these first two games with both SMU and TCU having NBA caliber guards. But we want to create mayhem. Some games that will look like full court press and some will be more of our half-court defense. The hope is that our defense turns into offense because we have some really good offensive players."
 
McNeese scrimmaged two other Division I teams a couple of weeks ago, out-rebounding its opponent in both games.
 
"That was a huge deal," said Aiken about the rebounding advantages. "I call it the backbone – six things that we want to win on a game-to-game bases. Number one is win the glass by at least five. We want to win the turnover battle by five. We want to win the paint battle by 10, meaning we want to outscore our opponents in the paint by 10. We want to take six charges or dives on the floor. We want to shoot 75% from the free throw line and we want to get 30 deflections.
 
"We were able to see in the two scrimmages, the rebounding numbers. We outrebounding one opponent by 14 and another by five and we won the turnover battle in the second scrimmage. We were also able to hold a team to 15 points over 18 minutes of a second half."
 
SMU is loaded with talent, including five Division I transfers, one who is Zach Nutall, last year's Southland Conference Player of the Year from Sam Houston.
 
But the top player on the Mustangs' squad heading into the season is veteran senior guard Kendric Davis who has been named to the Naismith Trophy Watch List, Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Watch List and the Lute Olson Award Watch List.
 
Tuesday's game will be the fifth meeting between the Cowboys and Mustangs with McNeese looking for its first win in the series. SMU won 91-59 in the last meeting back on Nov. 29, 2018.
 
Following Tuesday's game, the Cowboys will trek across Dallas to Fort Worth for a Thursday night meeting with TCU.