TUPELO, Mississippi – McNeese will go up against its second nationally ranked team of the season on Saturday when the Cowboys take on 25^th-ranked Mississippi State as part of the Magnolia Madness event at Tupelo's Cadence Bank Arena.
 
Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m. and will broadcast live on ESPNU and on the airwaves on the McNeese Radio Network (Power 92.1 FM).
 
McNeese (5-4) is coming off a 103-69 win over LeTourneau in its last contest last Saturday. Quadir Copeland had a breakout game when he finished with 20 points, career-high 11 assists, and nine rebounds, one shy of posting just the fourth triple-double in school history. It also marked the first double-double recorded by a Cowboy this year.
 
Christian Shumate added a game-high 22 points for his first 20-point game of the season and 17^th in his career. Shumate, Copeland and Bryant Selebangue, who scored a season-high 14 points against LETU, combined to connect on 22 of 25 from the field in the game.
 
The Bulldogs (8-1) are ranked for the second time this season, having been voted into the Top 25 earlier this season.
 
State is led by sophomore guard Josh Hubbard who is one of 20 players up for the 2024-25 Bob Cousy Award which is given to the nation's top point guard. Also on the John Wooden and Lute Olson Watch List, Hubbard is averaging 19 points and 3.4 assists per game and scored 25 points in State's 91-84 win over Prairie View in its last game on Sunday.
 
The Cowboys will be looking for their first-ever win over a ranked team (0-33). McNeese dropped a 72-64 decision at then-No. 2 Alabama back on November 11.
 
McNeese Probable Starters
G Omar Cooper – Sr., 6-0, 179 (1.9 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 3.8 apg, .420 FG, .600 FT)
G Javohn Garcia – Sr., 6-3, 183 (11.1 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 1.4 apg, 1.4 spg, .455 FG, .333 3FG, .913 FT)
G Brandon Murray – Sr., 6-5, 210 (7.3 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 1.9 apg, .444 FG, .231 3FG, .714 FT)
F Christian Shumate – Sr., 6-6, 213 (11.8 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 1.4 bpg, 1.0 spg, .621 FG, .393 3FG, .481 FT)
F Joe Charles – Sr., 6-9, 215 (8.0 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 2.0 spg, .479 FG, .333 3FG, .750 FT)
 
Off the Bench
G Sincere Parker – Jr., 6-3, 195 (15.6 ppg, 2.6 rpg, .500 FG, .222 3FG, .865 FT)
G Quadir Copeland – Jr., 6-6, 200 (7.4 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 2.4 apg, 1.3 spg, .600 FG, .655 FT)
G DJ Richards Jr. – Jr., 6-4, 185 (7.3 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 1.0 apg, .339 FG, .333 3FG, 10-10 FT)
F Bryant Selebangue – Jr., 6-8, 225 (3.7 ppg, 2.7 rpg, .800 FG, .526 FT)
 
Mississippi State Probable Starters
G Josh Hubbard – So., 5-11, 190 (19.0 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 3.4 apg, 1.2 spg, .472 FG, .432 3FG, .808 FT)
G Shawn Jones Jr. – Jr., 6-5, 205 (5.1 ppg, 1.8 rpg, .545 FG, .333 3FG, .750 FT)
G Claudell Harris Jr. – Sr., 6-4, 200 (10.0 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 1.3 apg, .410 FG, .339 3FG, .583 FT)
F Cameron Matthews – Sr., 6-7, 235 (7.8 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 3.8 apg, 2.7 spg, .622 FG, .520 FT)
C Michael Nwoko – So., 6-10, 245 (7.6 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 1.2 bpg, .610 FG, .654 FT)
 
COWBOYS VS. BULLDOGS
• McNeese and Mississippi State have met nine times prior to Saturday's game with the Bulldogs holding a 7-2 lead in the all-time series.
• The teams first met in the 1985-86 season in Lake Charles with McNeese winning 76-67.
• The only other Cowboys' win came on Dec. 30, 2014 with McNeese stunning Mississippi State, 66-47, in Starkville.
• The two also met in the 2002 NCAA Tournament in Dallas with State winning 70-58.
• This will be the fourth time in the series the Bulldogs will carry a national ranking into the game.
• Will Wade is 5-1 against Mississippi State in his career with all games played while as the head coach at LSU.
 
McNEESE vs. the SEC
• McNeese has compiled a 4-61 all-time record against current members of the SEC with two of those wins coming against Mississippi State (66-47, 12/30/14 and 76-67, 11/25/85).
• The only other win against an SEC team came against Ole Miss at home, 76-70, on Dec. 31, 1994.
 
McNEESE AGAINST NATIONALLY RANKED TEAMS
• Saturday's game against No. 25 Mississippi State will mark the second time this season McNeese will play a team ranked in the AP Top 25 poll.
• The Cowboys dropped a 72-64 decision at then-No. 2 Alabama in the third game of the season after rallying from a 21-point second-half deficit to cut the margin to four points late.
• McNeese has never beaten a ranked team and is 0-33 all-time against ranked opponents.
• The first loss against a ranked opponent came in the 1975-76 season when the Cowboys dropped an 87-70 game to No. 19 Centenary who was led by Hall of Famer Robert Parish.
• In the 1984-85 season, McNeese had Hall of Famer Joe Dumars while Louisiana Tech's roster had Hall of Famer Karl Malone... McNeese came up just short against the No. 7 Bulldogs late in the season.
 
FROM SHU-SLAM TO SHU-TIME
• McNeese senior forward Christian Shumate was a human highlight reel last season with his entertaining dunking, nine of which were featured on ESPN SportsCenter's Top 10 Plays of the Day.
• His dunks became popularly known as ShuSlams, which he recorded 57 last season and will head into Saturday's game with 11 ShuSlams on the season.
• Shumate developed an outside shot over the offseason when he met with a NBA shooting coach in Arizona over the summer.
• He's coming off a career-best 4-for-5 from behind the arc against LeTourneau where he made his first four 3s, and for the season, is 11-of-28 for 39%, ranking 2nd on the team for most 3s made while leading the squad in 3FG percentage.
• He's now been awarded the phrase "Shu-Time" for his 3-point makes.
 
MORE ON SHUMATE...
SHUMATE JOINS ELITE COMPANY
• With his 17-point against Santa Clara, Christian Shumate became just the 20th player in school history to score 1,400 points in a career.
• On top of that, he became only the 3rd player in school history to record 1,400 points and 900 rebounds in a career, joining Cowboy legends and brothers Edmond Lawrence (1,986 points/1,212 rebounds) and David Lawrence (1,938 points/1,026 rebounds).
• To date, Shumate has scored 1,435 points (19th all-time) and pulled in 921 rebounds in his career (5th all-time).
• His current career shooting percentage stands at 54.7 percent, ranking as the 3rd-best in school history.
• He's also averaging 8.4 rebounds in his career, 11th-best in school history.
 
RICHARDS NEARS MILESTONE MARK
• Junior guard DJ Richards Jr. will look to reach a milestone on Saturday when his next made 3-pointer will give him his 100th in his McNeese career.
• A second-year player for the Cowboys after transferring from UTSA prior to last season, Richards has made 99 of 232 in his 1-plus seasons with the Cowboys, sinking 83 last year while hitting 16 so far this season.
• His .427 3FG percentage is ranked as the second-best career mark in school history behind the .434 mark set by Dru Kuxhausen in 56 games from 2020-22.
• Richards has caught fire the last two games, making 7 of 13 from behind the arc after being shutout from long range the previous two games.
 
COWBOY NOTABLES
• McNeese is ranked in the top 50 in the nation in 5 different categories - steals per game (16th, 10.0), bench points per game (24th, 33.1), field goal percentage (26th, 49.5), turnover margin (35th, 3.9), and turnovers forced per game (39th, 15.6).
• In the win over LeTourneau, the Cowboys connected on 83% from the field in the second half, shooting 24-for-29.
• McNeese is the only team in the Southland to score 100 points or more in two games this season.
• Quadir Copeland came within a rebound from recording just the fourth triple-double in school history with his 20-point, 11 assist and 9 rebound game vs. LeTourneau.
• Sincere Parker's 31 points against Longwood is one of just three 30-point scorers in the league this year.
• Against LETU, Copeland (7-8), Christian Shumate (8-9) and Bryant Selebangue (7-8) combined to make 22 of 25 from the field.