McNeese Game Notes
Watch
Live Stats

AMES, Iowa - Fresh off a 52-49 win over Northern Iowa for its first road win of the season, the McNeese Cowboys will aim to corral its first-ever win against a ranked opponent when it takes on 20th-ranked Iowa State on Sunday.

Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m. at Iowa State's Hilton Coliseum. The game will broadcast on Big XII Now and ESPN+.

McNeese (3-6) used a suffocating defense against Northern Iowa while eliminating the Panthers' top scorer from making a difference as it held UNI's top shooter 15 points below his season average while the defending Missouri Valley champions to nearly 30 points below its average.

"We knew that if we could eliminate their top scorer, we'd have a good chance to beat them, and we did," said second-year head coach John Aiken.

On Sunday the Cowboys will face a Cyclone team that defeated then-No. 1 North Carolina 70-65 back on Nov. 25 before dropping its first game of the year to then-No. 20 UConn, 71-53 as part of the Phil Knight Invitational. Iowa State (7-2) lost to Iowa, 75-56, in its last outing on Thursday.

The Cyclones are led by senior guard Jaren Holmes in scoring with a 13.2 average and is the only player averaging double-digits.

McNeese has two players scoring double-digits on the season - Christian Shumate (11.4) and Trae English (11.2).

This will be the first-ever meeting between the two teams and the 30th all-time game against a ranked opponent (0-29), third this season.

The Cowboys will return home on Dec. 15 when they host long-time rival Louisiana-Lafayette at 7 p.m. in the Legacy Center. Tickets for that game are just $5.