RUSTON – The McNeese Bayou Bandits will roll through Ruston on Tuesday and Wednesday to take part in the Louisiana Tech Multi-Team Event (MTE).
 
The Cowboys (4-1) will play Texas State (2-2) at noon on Tuesday then will battle the host school Louisiana Tech (2-1) at 3 p.m. on Wednesday. Both games will broadcast live on the McNeese Radio Network (Magic 92.1 and mymagiclc.com) while Wednesday's contest will also air on ESPN+.
 
McNeese is coming off a tight 76-74 loss to unbeaten Western Carolina on Saturday for its first loss of the season. In that game, guard Shahada Wells scored a career-high 37 points to lead all scorers. The Cowboys had a chance to win the game with a three-pointer at the buzzer, but the shot fell off the mark.
 
Wells leads the Cowboys in scoring with an 18.2 average and is one of four players to average double-digits. DJ Richards Jr. and Christian Shumate are scoring 11.8 each per game while Antavion Collum is sinking 10.6 per clip. Shumate also tops the team with 9.6 rebounds per game.
 
McNeese has lost three straight contests to Texas State in a series that hasn't seen a matchup since Nov. 29, 2016 via an 80-68 loss in San Marcos. The Cowboys and Bulldogs haven't met in nearly 10 years (Dec. 17, 2013) when Tech posted a 64-50 victory in Ruston.
 
The Bobcats are led in scoring by Tyrel Morgan's 14.0 average after playing the first two games. He has not seen action the last two. Brandon Love is averaging 12.5 points a team-high 8.3 rebounds per contest.
 
Texas State opened the season with a 5-point loss at Little Rock then won at Miami (OH) 75-65, dropped a 93-54 game at Oklahoma before beating UTSA 72-62 in its last outing.
 
Louisiana Tech opened the season with an 81-73 loss at Colorado State but followed that up with wins over Lyon College (100-43) and at ULM (73-63.
 
The Bulldogs are led in scoring by 6-3 guard Jaylin Henderson who is coming off the bench with a 17.3 average while 6-6 starting forward Isaiah Crawford is scoring 17 points per game and has netted 20 or more the last two outings.
 
Notebook:
• McNeese assistant coach Vernon Hamilton (2-0) will act as the head coach for the Cowboys on Tuesday while Brandon Chambers (2-1) will get the duties against the Bulldogs on Wednesday.
• The Cowboys will be looking to pick up their fifth win through the first six games for the first time since the 1961-62 season when they started out 7-1.
• Wells' 37 points scored against WCU were the most by a Cowboy player since the 2019-20 season when AJ Lawson scored 37 against Abilene Christian (Jan. 8, 2020) and Shamarkus Kennedy vs. HCU (Jan. 25, 2020).
• Wells is 2^nd in the league in total field goals (35; also 22^nd in NCAA)… No. 3 in SLC with 91 points scored… 4^th with 18.2 ppg.
• Shumate is 1^st in SLC and 14^th in NCAA with 4.4 offensive rebounds per game… 1^st in SLC with 9.6 rebounds per game… 1^st in SLC and 3^rd in NCAA with three double-doubles.
• Omar Cooper is 2^nd in SLC and 21^st in NCAA with 12 total steals… 3^rd in assist/turnover ratio (4.0)… 3^rd with 16 assists.
• As a team, McNeese is 1^st in SLC and 11^th in nation in fewest fouls committed per game (13.0)… 1^st in SLC, 17^th NCAA in FG percentage (52.7)… 1^st in SLC, 18^th NCAA in both scoring defense (58.2 ppg) and scoring margin (29.2), 2^nd in SLC and 6^th in NCAA in turnover margin (9.4)… 1^st in SLC and 12^th in NCAA in fewest turnovers committed per game (8.4).