EDINBURG, Texas – McNeese will take its unbeaten Southland Conference record and first place mark in the league standings on the road for the next three games beginning Saturday afternoon against UTRGV before ending its Texas Two-Step at A&M-Corpus Christi on Monday night at 7.
 
Saturday's game will carry a 4:30 p.m. tip and will broadcast live on ESPN+ and the McNeese Radio Network (Power 92.1 FM).
 
McNeese (14-5, 8-0 SLC) will enter the game winners of nine straight, tied as the nation's sixth-longest current winning streak, and 19-consecutive conference wins which is the longest current league winning streak in the NCAA.
 
The Cowboys, who are ranked No. 8 in this week's CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll, are coming off a 79-59 win over Stephen F. Austin on Monday night.
 
UTRGV is 12-7 overall and 4-4 in league play in its first season as a Southland Conference member. The Vaqueros won 85-78 at UIW in their last game and are 8-1 at home this season.
 
Saturday's game will be the eighth meeting in the all-time series with McNeese holding a 6-1 lead. The two last played back on Dec. 12, 2018 with UTRGV taking a 68-64 win in Edinburg. Prior to that, the teams hadn't played since the 1991 season when UTRGV was known as Texas-Pan American.
 
BROADCAST BULLETS
• Joe Charles is expected to be back in the starting lineup on Saturday… he missed the SFA game due to an injured ankle he suffered against Lamar.
• McNeese is ranked 8th in this week's CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll.
• In their 14 wins, the Cowboys have held 13 opponents to under 70 points and 5 under 60... Nicholls' 71 points on Jan. 11 are the  most scored by an opponent in a McNeese win.
• McNeese's 19-game conference winning streak is the longest league winning streak in the nation... Auburn is 2nd at 11.
• The Cowboys' 9-game overall winning streak is currently tied with Louisville as the 6th-longest in the NCAA... Duke has the longest winning streak at 12 games.
• McNeese has won 4-straight road games, ranking tied as the 10th-longest current streak in the NCAA.
• The Cowboys are 25-1 in conference play over the last two seasons, and 11-1 in road league games in that span.
• Against SFA, Christian Shumate recorded his 2nd double-double of the season and 36th in his career, ranking as the 3rd-most in Southland Conference history.
• Shumate needs 3 rebounds to reach 1,000 in his career, and 14 rebounds from getting 1,000 at McNeese.
 
MARCH 3 GAME AT SFA MOVED TO ESPNU
• For the second straight season, the McNeese Cowboys will have one of its Southland Conference games broadcast on linear television as the Cowboys' March 3 game at Stephen F. Austin has been moved to ESPNU.
• Game time has been moved up for the original 6:30 start to 6 p.m. at SFA's William R. Johnson Coliseum.
• Last year, McNeese won at A&M-Corpus Christi on a last-second shot on ESPNU when Christian Shumate's putback off a missed layup with 0.5 seconds remaining game the Cowboys the exciting win on national television.
• This will be the second game played on ESPNU this season... McNeese dropped a 66-63 game to nationally ranked Mississippi State back on December 14 in the nationally televised broadcast.
 
RICHARDS JR. HEATING UP FROM 3
• DJ Richards Jr. has started to find his stroke from long range lately and is now topping the Southland Conference in 3FG shooting in league games only at 47% (26-55).
• He's connected on 5 or more 3s in three league games and hit a career-high 7 threes against UNO on Dec. 28.
• His current career 3FG shooting percentage of .440 is ranked No. 1 in the McNeese career record book.
 
SLC WIN STREAK REACHES 19 STRAIGHT
• McNeese won its 19th-straight Southland Conference game on Monday against SFA, extending its school record in the process.
• The current streak is tied as the 4th-longest in conference history with ULM.
 
SLC LONGEST WINNING STREAKS
Rank      Streak    Team Season          Began  Ended
1.    32   Stephen F. Austin         2012-14           2/20/13 3/8/14
2.    20   UL-Lafayette      1971-73         1/3/72  1/14/76
3.    19   McNeese 2023-Now    2/5/24 Current
       19   ULM        1992-94        1/7/93 1/8/94
 
MORE STREAKING
• McNeese's 19-game conference winning streak is the longest in the NCAA with Auburn following with 11 straight wins in the SEC.
• In addition, the Cowboys' 9-game overall win streak is tied as the 6th-longest in the nation.
 
LONGEST CURRENT CONFERENCE WINNING STREAKS
Rank      Streak    Team                      Conference    
1.           19           McNeese                 Southland
2.           11           Auburn                    SEC
3.           9             Cleveland State        Horizon
              9             Akron                      MAC
      
 
LONGEST CURRENT WINNING STREAKS
Rank      Streak    Team                      Conference    
1.           12           Duke                       ACC
2.           11           Michigan State         Big Ten
              1             Cleveland State        Horizon
              11           Houston                  Big 12
5.           10           Auburn                    SEC
6.           9             McNeese                 Southland
              9             Louisville                 ACC
 
McNEESE BOASTS ONE OF NATIONS TOUGHEST STRENGTHS OF SCHEDULE
• According to KenPom.com, McNees's non-conference strength of schedule ranks as the 22nd toughest in the nation.
• 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.
• Of McNeese's nine non-conference D1 opponents, 6 are either ranked or receiving votes in Mid-Major or Major Top 25 polls.
• The Cowboys' non-conference D1 opponents have a combined 118-57 W-L record, a .674 winning percentage.
 
WILL WADE ONE OF NATION'S ACTIVE WINNINGEST COACHES WITH AT LEAST 10 YEARS OF ACTION
• McNeese head coach Will Wade has already set several records as the Cowboys' head coach in just his second season, including the fastest to reach 30 wins.
• Now, he's currently one of the winningest coaches in the NCAA with at least 10 years of experience, ranking 10th with a career winning percentage of .695.
• He's also the youngest on the list by more than 10 years.
 
TOP 10 ACTIVE NCAA DIVISION I MBB COACHES WITH AT LEAST 10 YEARS OF HEAD COACHING EXPERIENCE, RANKED BY CAREER WIN %
Rank                              Win%            Age     
1.    Mark Few                 .8305             62
2.    Bill Self                     .7656             62
3.    John Calipari              .7656             65
4.    John Becker              .7500             56
5.    Sean Miller               .7270             56
6.    Thad Matta               .7250             57
7.    Randy Bennett          .7200             62
8.    Tom Izzo                   .7100             70
9.    Bruce Pearl               .7000             65
10.  Will Wade                .6956             42
 
MORE NOTES ON THE COWBOYS
• Javohn Garcia has scored 942 career points, needing 58 more to reach the 1,000 milestone.
• DJ Richards Jr. has made 125 threes in his McNeese career, ranking 14th all-time in school history.
• In SLC games only, McNeese leads the conference in scoring offense (80.1 ppg) and defense (61.3 ppg).
• The 13.1 scoring advantage on the season ranks 27th in the NCAA.
 
COWBOYS WITH CAREER HIGHS THIS SEASON
• Garcia netted a career-high 26 points against Southeastern back on Dec. 30 while Brown scored a career-best 10 points versus Nicholls (1/11).
• Garcia also tied a career-high with 7 rebounds vs. Illinois State (Nov. 22) and at HCU (1/13), and made a career-best 12 free throws vs. Nicholls (11/11).
• Quadir Copeland dished out a career-high 11 assists twice, vs. LeTourneau (12/7) and at Northwestern State (1/6), and 5 steals at East Texas A&M (1/4).
• Christian Shumate career-high 4 three-pointers made vs. LeTourneau (12/7).
• Joe Charles tied a career-high with 5 steals vs. Southeastern (12/30).
• Sincere Parker a career-high 6 three-pointers made vs. NSU (1/6).
•  DJ Richards Jr. career-best 7 3s made vs. New Orleans (12/28), 4 assists vs. East Texas A&M (1/4), and 4 steals vs. ETAM and HCU (1/13).
• Brandon Murray pulled down a career-best 9 rebounds against Mississippi State (12/14).