KATY, Texas – As much as nobody wants to reminisce to what happened this time last year with all of sports shutting down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, McNeese vs. Lamar was the last game played at the Merrell Center in the 2020 Southland Conference Tournament on the first day of action.
 
The Cowboys will now be the first team to welcome the tournament back when it takes on Southeastern Louisiana at 5 p.m. on Tuesday.
 
The game will air live on ESPN+ and will also broadcast on the McNeese Radio Network (Magic 92.1 FM and mymagiclc.com) with Bruce Merchant calling the action.
 
The Cowboys (10-13, 4-10 SLC) will enter as the No. 9 seed and are coming off two losses to end the regular season vs. Nicholls and Lamar. The Lions (7-17, 5-10) are the No. 8 seed and have dropped four straight games entering the tournament.
 
McNeese and SLU split the season series – the Lions winning 92-88 in Lake Charles on Jan. 20 and McNeese outscoring SLU 95-91 in a shootout in Hammond on Feb. 24.
 
COWBOYS OPEN UP TOURNEY PLAY VS. SLU ON TUESDAY:    
• McNeese will begin Southland Conference Tournament play on Tuesday as the No. 9 seed and will go up against No. 8 Southeastern Louisiana at 5 p.m. at the Merrell Center in Katy, Texas.
• The Cowboys will be making their league-record 31st appearance in the postseason tournament. It'll also be the second straight appearance, marking the first time since the 2015, 2016 tournaments to make back-to-back appearances.
• The Cowboys have compiled a 24-28 all-time record in tournament play with six championship game appearances - two titles (1989 and 2002) and four runner-up spots (1986, 2001, 2011 and 2012).
• Tuesday will mark just the third matchup against SLU in the tournament, each winning a game. Most recently the Cowboys defeated the Lions 62-60 in overtime in the 2015 first round. In 2013, SLU beat McNeese 85-65 in the second round.
• McNeese is 16-11 all-time in first round games.
 
FAST BREAK FACTS:                           
• McNeese's last outing against SLU was a 95-91 shootout just two weeks ago in Hammond. Prior to that, the Lions escaped with a 92-88 win in Lake Charles on Jan. 20.
• The Cowboys have won 3 of the last 4 meetings with SLU.
• McNeese is ranked No. 3 in the NCAA with 18.6 assists per game.
• Ranked 6th in the NCAA in 3FG shooting at 39.2 percent and 12th in the nation in overall FG shooting at 49.5 percent.
• 11-4 on the season when leading at the half, 4-1 in SLC games when leading at the break. 0-8 in SLC when trailing at the half.
 
TRENDING COWBOYS                      
• KeyShawn Feazell has scored double-digits in 16 of last 18 games and in all but three games on the season.
• Harwin Francois tied a career-high with 14 points against Southeastern Louisiana the last time the two teams met.
• Francois has started the last two games and is averaging 8.5 points in 30 minutes of play.
• Carlos Rosario averaged 19 points and 76 percent shooting against the Lions in two games this season.
• Rosario has scored double-digits in 5 straight games and is averaging 15.6 points and 62 percent shooting during that time.
• Four other Cowboy players averaged double-digit scoring against SLU on the year - KeyShawn Feazell 16.0, A.J. Lawson 15.5, Dru Kuxhausen 15.0, and Harwin Francois 10.0.
• Feazell missed three games during the season, including the first two league games, due to a positive COVID test.
• The Cowboys had two home games - Feb. 17 vs. UIW and Feb. 20 vs. UNO, canceled due to COVID and tracing.