LAKE CHARLES – McNeese will begin defense of its Southland Conference championship on Saturday when the Cowboys host New Orleans to start league play.
 
Tip-off is schedule for 4 p.m. in the Legacy Center, a place where McNeese has won 21 of its last 22 games including 12 straight against league opponents (10 in conference games and two tournament contests).
 
The game will broadcast live on ESPN+ but tickets are still available HERE.
 
McNeese, the overwhelming favorite to repeat as conference champions, will enter the contest with a 6-5 record and coming off a 64-56 win at Louisiana-Lafayette. UNO is 2-9 on the season and 0-1 in league play. McNeese is the only conference team that has not played a league game yet this season.
 
COWBOYS BEGIN DEFENSE OF SLC TITLE ON SATURDAY AT HOME AGAINST NEW ORLEANS
• McNeese will begin defense of its Southland Conference championship on Saturday when it plays the first of two home games, starting with New Orleans at 4 p.m. The Cowboys will follow that up with a 6 o'clock game on Monday against Southeastern Louisiana.
• The Cowboys are coming off a 64-56 win over Louisiana-Lafayette in the Cajundome on Sunday while UNO dropped an 86-70 at LSU, also on Sunday, in a game that saw the Privateers trail by just one point at the half.
• McNeese will be looking to win its league opener for the fourth straight season.
• The Cowboys are 3-2 in their first conference game of the season played in the Legacy Center - 1-1 when opening up league play at home.
• McNeese is 2-3 against the Privateers in the Legacy Center but has won two straight by an average score of 91-69.
• The Cowboys posted their largest win ever over UNO last year, 102-65, that occurred in the Legacy Center.
 
McNEESE BOASTS ONE OF NATIONS TOUGHEST STRENGTHS OF SCHEDULE
• According to KenPom.com, McNeese holds the nation's 22nd-toughest strength of schedule.
• In addition to the overall schedule strength, McNeese's opponents have produced the 18th-toughest offenses in the country while the defenses are rated as the 28th-toughest.
• McNeese's five losses are by a combined 29 points (5.8 average), and in four of those losses, the Cowboys either led or were within one possession with less than two minutes to play.
• The Cowboys have held a double-digit lead against 5 opponents this season while just three opponents have had a 10-point or better lead against McNeese, one of those being then-No. 2 Alabama.
• Of McNeese's nine D1 opponents, 7 are either ranked or receiving votes in Mid-Major or Major Top 25 polls.
• The Cowboys' D1 opponents have a combined 81-34 W-L record - a 70.4 winning percentage.
 
COWBOY NOTABLES
• Sincere Parker scored 22 points at ULL in his last outing, scoring 20 of those in the second half... it's his third 20-point game of the season and 10th in his career.
• Parker's 31 points against Longwood is one of just seven 30-point scoring games in the league this year.
• Parker has scored 10 or more 2nd half points six times this season with two games at 20 or more (27 vs. Longwood, 20 vs. ULL).
• Christian Shumate moved into the No. 5 spot on McNeese's all-time career rebounding list after his 6 boards at ULL increased his total to 934, moving him past Desharick Guidry's 932.
• Shumate needs 30 rebounds to move into 4th and is 66 rebounds from becoming only the 4th player in school history to record 1,000 in a career.
• The Cowboys have outrebounded 4 of their last 5 opponents.
• McNeese is ranked in the top 50 in the nation in two different categories - bench points per game (29th, 31.9) and steals per game (42nd, 9.2).
• In the win over LeTourneau, the Cowboys connected on 83% from the field in the second half, shooting 24-for-29.
• McNeese is one of only two teams in the Southland to score 100 points or more in two games this season (A&M-Corpus Christi).
• 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.
• Against LETU, Copeland (7-8), Christian Shumate (8-9) and Bryant Selebangue (7-8) combined to make 22 of 25 from the field.
 
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 1,451 points (19th all-time) and pulled in 934 rebounds in his career (5th all-time).
• His current career shooting percentage stands at 54.6 percent, ranking as the 3rd-best in school history.
• He's also averaging 8.3 rebounds in his career, 10th-best in school history.
 
LOVING THE LEGACY
• The Legacy Center has become one of the toughest places to play for McNeese's opponents as of late as the Cowboys have posted a 21-1 record in the arena over the last two seasons.
• McNeese went 18-0 in the Legacy Center last year and is currently 3-1 at home this season.
• The Cowboys saw their 20-game home court winning streak snapped against Santa Clara back on December 3, which at the time, was the nation's 4th-longest home court winning streak.
• The Cowboys have won 11 straight games against Southland Conference opponents in the arena - 9-0 during SLC play last season and 2-0 in SLC Tournament action.
• McNeese has won 10 straight league games at home dating back to the 2022-23 season.
• Since its opening for the 2018-19 season, McNeese has compiled a 46-27 all-time record in the Legacy Center.
• 23-21 in Southland Conference games played in Legacy Center including 9-0 last season and 13-1 over the last 14.
• Due to hurricane damage, the entire 2020-21 season and half of the 21-22 season was played out at Burton Coliseum, McNeese's home arena from 1986-2018.
 
NEXT UP
• McNeese will host Southeastern Louisiana at 6 p.m. on Monday night before hitting the road for two games - Jan. 4 at East Texas A&M then at Northwestern State on Jan. 6.