LAKE CHARLES – McNeese basketball will debut the Legacy Center to a national television audience on Sunday when the Cowboys host New Orleans at 5 p.m. on ESPNU in a big Southland Conference game.
 
It'll be the first home game on linear television since March 9, 2002 when McNeese defeated Louisiana-Monroe in the league tournament championship game which the Cowboys won in Burton Coliseum on ESPN2. It will also be the first linear TV broadcast for the program since McNeese opened the 2015 season at LSU and its debut of Ben Simmons in a game that was broadcast on ESPNU.
 
"This is a really big game for us," said head coach John Aiken. "Not only it being a big Southland Conference game against the first place team in the league, but it's big to be able to have a national audience to be able to showcase our great facility on national TV."
 
McNeese (8-13, 2-2) is 5-1 at home this season, 1-1 at the Legacy Center. The Cowboys fell to Nicholls on Thursday night by an 81-71 score. UNO (11-8, 4-0) is riding a seven-game winning streak and is 4-0 in conference play for the first time in four years.
 
About The Teams:                             
McNeese enters the game 8-13 on the season and 2-2 in conference play. The Cowboys have won three of their last five games despite falling to Nicholls on Thursday night. McNeese is ranked 7th nationally in offensive rebounds per game (14.1), 21st in rebounds per game (40.4), 22n in steals per game (9.2) and 24th in turnovers forced (16.6). The Cowboys have six players averaging at least eight points per game and a seventh player at 7.8 per contest. McNeese also has nine players averaging at least one assist per game. Four Cowboys are averaging double-digits in scoring in SLC games only, led by Christian Shumate's 15.0 average
 
UNO (11-8, 4-0) is on a 7-game winning streak, its longest since the 2010-11 season and will be looking for an eighth consecutive win for the first time since the 1996-96 season. The Privateers' 4-0 league start is the best since the 2017-18 season. Derek St. Hilaire is averaging 25.5 ppg during the current winning streak.
 
The Series:                                         
Today's game will be the 27th meeting in the series with UNO holding a 17-9 lead. The Privateers have won 8 of the last 10 matchups. The Cowboys have lost the last four games at home (two straight in the Legacy Center). The last home win over the Privateers came on Feb. 11, 2016 by an 87-76 score.
 
Re-Birth... Jan. 15, 2022: That date marked the reopening of the Legacy Center, the first home game for the Cowboys since late February of 2020, nearly 700 days. Aug. 27, 2020 changed the lives of everyone in Southwest Louisiana with Hurricane Laura then six weeks later with Hurricane Delta. The Legacy Center, suffered approximately $20 million in damages as a result of the Category 4 and 3 storms. McNeese beat HBU on a last-second 3-pointer by Zach Scott to cap the day with a storybook endind. Overall, McNeese has compiled an 18-14 record in the Legacy Center since it's grand opening in the 2018-19 season, but since the final season before the storms hit, the Cowboys are 11-6.
 
Second Go-Around vs. UNO This Season: Sunday's game will be the second meeting between the two teams this month. The Cowboys and Privateers met in the opening round of the SLC Tip-Off Tournament on Jan. 6 in Katy, Texas with the Cowboys coming away with a 92-82 double-ot win. In that game, Christian Shumate led the Cowboys with 21 points and 13 rebounds. Myles Lewis added 19 points and 12 boards while Kellon Taylor added 12 points and Collin Warren 10. McNeese led by 4 with a minute to play in regulation before Derek St. Hilaire hit two shots to tie the game, the last one with 32 seconds to play. In the first OT, Lewis sank to FTs for the Cowboys with 14 seconds remaining to tie the game and Shumate blocked a Green shot at the buzzer to send it to a second OT. In the 2nd OT, Lewis scored 8 of the Cowboys 13 points as McNeese outscored UNO 13-3 to take the 10-point win.
 
20-Point Scorers: McNeese has had six different players score 20 points or more at least once this season with a total of it happening 12 times among the group. Christian Shumate leads the way with four, 20-point games on the season followed by Brendan Medley-Bacon with three Myles Lewis has topped 20 or more twice. Kellon Taylor, Zach Scott, and Collin Warren have scored 20 or more once. The Cowboys had three players score 20 points in the same game against Ecclesia on Dec. 30 (Lewis 21, Shumate 21, Taylor 20) marking the first time that's happened in two years.
 
Off The Bench: The Cowboys rank as one of the top teams in the nation when it comes to bench minutes and scoring. McNeese is ranked No. 30 in the NCAA with the bench accounting for 40% of the minutes played in a game. In addition, the Cowboys have scored 583 points from its bench, an average of 27.8 points per game.
 
Spreading the Scoring Wealth: Through 21 games, McNeese has seen seven different players lead the Cowboys in scoring. Shumate tops the team, having led the squad in scoring eight times followed by Brendon Medley-Bacon with 4, Myles Lewis and Kellon Taylor 3 times each, Zach Scott 2, and Trae English and Collin Warren once apiece.
 
Cleaning Up The Glass: McNeese is ranked No. 1 in the conference in rebounds per game (40.4), total rebounds (848), offensive rebounds per game (14.1), and rebounding margin (5.6). The Cowboys set a school record with 37 offensive boards in a 120-44 win over Arlington Baptist and 77 total rebounds for the second-most rebounds in school history. Outrebounded Arlington Baptist 77-16, setting a new single-game school record with a +61 rebound margin.
 
NCAA Rankings: The Cowboys rank seventh nationally in offensive rebounds per game (14.1), 21st in rebounds per game (40.38), 22nd in steals per game (9.2) and 24th in turnovers forced (16.57)..
 
Sensational Shumate: Freshman Christian Shumate leads the Cowboys with four, 20-point games and has led the team in scoring individually a squad-high eight times on the season. He netted a career-high 29-point outing at UIW where he also pulled down 11 rebounds (9 offensive) for his fourth double-double of the season. He's averaging a team-high 15.0 ppg in league games while hitting 57 percent of his shots (25 of 44). His points average is 9th-best among conference players in SLC games.
 
Paint Domination: McNeese has scored 810 points in the paint this season, accounting for 51 percent of the team's total scoring. The team is averaging 38.6 points a game with scoring in the paint, including 34.0 in SLC only games. McNeese scored a school record 84 points in the paint in a 120-44 win over Arlington Baptist on Jan. 12.