CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – McNeese will wrap up its Texas Two-Step road trip on Monday night against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in a battle of the top two teams in the Southland Conference standings.
 
Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the American Bank Center. The game will broadcast live on ESPN+ and on the McNeese Radio Network on Power 92.1 FM.
 
McNeese (15-5, 9-0 SLC) is coming off a 93-63 win over UTRGV on Saturday, a game that saw the Cowboys score the most points of the season against a Division I opponent.
 
The Islanders (14-7, 7-2 SLC) held on to defeat Nicholls, 61-57, on Saturday to improve to 11-1 at home on the season, 4-0 at the American Bank Center.
 
THE SERIES
• This will be the 28th meeting in the series with AMCC holding a 19-8 all-time lead.
• McNeese has won two straight in the series, sweeping both games last season including a thrilling 62-61 win in Corpus when Christian Shumate put back a missed layup with 0.5 seconds remaining.
• Prior to the Cowboys winning two straight, the Islanders had won 16-consecutive in the series.
 
BROADCAST BULLETS
• McNeese is ranked 8th in this week's CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll.
• In their 15 wins, the Cowboys have held 14 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 20-game conference winning streak is the longest league winning streak in the nation... Auburn is 2nd at 12.
• The Cowboys' 10-game overall winning streak is currently tied as the 6th-longest in the NCAA... Duke has the longest winning streak at 13 games.
• McNeese has won 5-straight road games, ranking tied as the 7th-longest current streak in the NCAA.
• The Cowboys are 26-1 in conference play over the last two seasons, and 12-1 in road league games in that span.
• 15-1 record when leading at half and 9-0 when leading at half in conference games.
• 93 points scored in the win over UTRGV are the most scored against a D1 opponent this season and the 3rd-most under Will Wade over the last two seasons (102 vs. UNO, 1/27/24; 105 at HCU, 2/12/25).
• The 12 three-pointer made at UTRGV are the second-most in a game this season (16 at Northwestern State).
• McNeese has held its last five opponents to seven made 3s or fewer per game.
• Has trailed just 12:55 out of a possible 340 minutes in league play so far this season.
• 9-0 when shooting 50% or better in 2nd half; 4-0 at 60% or better in 2nd half.
• Shot 50% or better in 2nd half in 6 of 9 SLC games (6-0).
• The 13.9 scoring advantage on the season ranks 19th in the NCAA.
• McNeese has a 20.1 scoring advantage in conference games.
• Javohn Garcia has scored 952 career points, needing 48 more to reach the 1,000 milestone.
• DJ Richards Jr. has made 129 threes in his McNeese career, ranking 13th all-time in school history.
• In SLC games only, McNeese leads the conference in scoring offense (81.6 ppg) and defense (61.4 ppg).
 
SHUMATE GETS 1,000TH CAREER BOARD
• Christian Shumate reached a memorable milestone on Saturday at UTRGV when he pulled down his third rebound of the game which in turn, was the 1,000th of his career.
• He ended with 10 boards in the game to go along with 12 points for his second straight double-double, third of the season and 37th of his career, a school record and No. 3 all-time in Southland Conference history.
• To date, he's pulled down 1,007 career rebounds which includes his one season at Tulsa prior to transferring to McNeese for the 2021-22 season.
• He's recorded 996 career rebounds while at McNeese which ranks him 4th all-time in school history and just 31 rebounds from moving into 3rd.
 
OTHER MILESTONES WITHIN REACH
• Javohn Garcia needs 48 points for 1,000 in his career.
• DJ Richards Jr. is 90 points away from 1,000 and 8 three-pointers made from 200 in his career.
• Brandon Murray is 99 points away from his career 1,000th point.
• Joe Charles needs 64 rebounds to get to 700 in his career.
• Bryant Selebangue pulled down his 500th career rebound against UTRGV.
 
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, hitting 47% (30-64) while his 3.3 3FG made per game is ranked No. 2.
• 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 currently ranked No. 1 in the McNeese career record book.
 
SLC WIN STREAK REACHES 20 STRAIGHT
• McNeese won its 20th-straight Southland Conference game on at UTRGV on Saturday, extending its school record in the process.
• The current streak is tied as the 2nd-longest in conference history with ULL.
 
MORE STREAKING
• McNeese's 20-game conference winning streak is the longest in the NCAA with Auburn following with 12 straight wins in the SEC.
• In addition, the Cowboys' 10-game overall win streak is tied as the 6th-longest in the nation.
 
NEXT UP
• McNeese will play its third straight game away from home on Saturday when it visits Nicholls.
• The Cowboys will be back home next Monday against UIW.