LAKE CHARLES – McNeese outscored New Orleans by a 52-18 margin following the first three minutes of the second half and exploded for a 102-65 Southland Conference win to improve to 18-2 overall and 7-0 in league play, both being the best starts in school history in front of a Legacy Center sellout crowd of 4,200.
 
The win extended McNeese winning streak to 13-straight games which is now the longest streak in the NCAA. Previous leader Dayton fell to Richmond on Saturday to snap its streak at 13. It also kept the Cowboys unbeaten at home, now at 10-0, and marked the third-straight win over New Orleans (7-13, 2-5), dating back to last season.
 
Shahada Wells and Javohn Garcia each scored 20 points to lead four Cowboys' double-figure scorers. Wells connected on 8 of 9 from the field, including 3 of 4 from three-point range, and hit his first eight shots before a miss. He added eight assists, five rebounds and three steals while playing 23 minutes.
 
Christian Shumate added 17 points that included four ShuSlams and added a team-high seven rebounds. DJ Richards Jr. scored 12 behind 3-for-4 shooting from behind the arc.
 
UNO was led in scoring by Jamond Vincent's 13 points. Conference scoring leader Jordan Johnson was held to just 11 points, more than half below his season average.
 
McNeese led 45-36 and was challenged early as the Privateers strung together an 11-2 run to rally from a 13-9 deficit to go up 20-15 following a Tyson Jackson bucket at the 12:09 mark. UNO knocked down all three 3-point attempts during the run, two of those coming off the shot of James Glisson III whose only points in the game came during that time.
 
The Cowboys answered with one of their many spurts on the night by scoring the next seven points to go up 24-20, then after New Orleans battled back to go up 31-30 after a couple of Vincent freebies, McNeese put together its second spurt, this one being a 15-6 run to close out the final 4:41 and taking a 45-36 lead into the half.
 
McNeese led 50-39 just two minutes into the second half but the Privateers scored eight straight behind back-to-back 3s fro Jah Short and Johnson followed by a Vincent layup to cut the gap to 50-47 at the 16:57 mark.
 
Omar Cooper started a 10-0 McNeese run with a layup that was followed by 3s from Wells and Garcia as the Cowboys built its largest lead at the time at 60-47 in less than a 2-minute span and with 15:08 on the clock.
 
A 9-0 run began two minutes later as a three-pointer by Cam Jones made it a 74-51 advantage with 11:44 on the clock, and the lead hit 30 after Richards Jr. sank third trey of the night to make it 82-52 with 9:24 to play.
 
McNeese scored its 100^th point with 1:22 to play when Mike Saunders Jr. hit the first of two free throws.
 
The Cowboys connected on 62.3% from the field (38-61), the best shooting performance against a Division I team this season. They also sank 11 of 20 (55%) from three-point range and hit 15 of 22 (68.2%) at the free throw line. McNeese knocked down 21 of 31 (67.7%) from the field in the second half alone and outscored New Orleans by a 57-29 margin.
 
UNO shot 40.3% (25-62) overall, 9-23 (39.1%) from three-point range and 6-13 (46.2%) at the line.
 
The Privateers held a 37-32 advantage in rebounds and pulled down 18 offensive boards, scoring 21 second chance points.
 
The Cowboys turned the ball over just five times in the game with one of those coming on an offensive foul. McNeese turned it over just once in the second half while forcing UNO to 10, second half turnovers and scoring 22 points off the miscues.
 
All 12 Cowboys not taking a redshirt saw action with all but one scoring.
 
McNeese will be back home on Monday night when it hosts Northwestern State at 7 p.m.
 
Postgame Notes:
• The 18 wins for McNeese are the most in a season since winning 21 games in the 2010-11 season which was the last time the Cowboys won the SLC title.
• Will Wade is the first coach in school history to win his first 10 games in his first season at the helm.
• The 10 home wins marks the most since winning 10 (10-5) in the 2019-20 season and matches the most home wins in Legacy Center history.
• The school record for most home wins in any venue is 15 in 2010-11 when games were played in Burton Coliseum.
• Only once before in school history has a team gone unbeaten at home on the season (14-0, 1985-86).
• With 20 points, Wells recorded his eighth, 20-point game of the season while Garcia notched his second on the year.
• The 20 points also moved Wells to within 10 of reaching 1,000 in his career.
• Shumate recorded four ShuSlams in the game, giving him 29 on the season.
• Shumate's 17 points increases his career total to 1,163 and moving him into 24^th place on the school's all-time scoring list.
• McNeese held a 32-1 advantage in fast-break points.
• McNeese outscored UNO 54-26 in the paint and 34-12 in bench points.
• Improved to 14-0 when leading at the half.
• 10-0 when scoring 80 points or more.
• 7-0 when shooting 50% or better and 15-0 at 45% or better.
• Saturday's game marked the third sellout in the last four home games.
• It's the first 100-point game against a D1 opponent since scoring 144 in a four-overtime loss to HCU back on March 5, 2022.
• The first win over a Division I opponent when scoring 100 points since beating HCU 100-80 on Feb. 29, 2020.