GEORGE TOWN, Grand Cayman – A second-straight dominant performance on defense propelled McNeese to a clinical 73-60 win over Murray State here Monday night on day two of the Cayman Islands Classic.
 
McNeese improves to 5-1 on the season and 2-0 in Classic play. The Cowboys will go for the trifecta on Tuesday at 4 p.m. CT against Middle Tennessee State.
 
Tyshawn Archie led the Cowboys in scoring with 17 points. Javohn Garcia, who led the Cowboys with 18 points in their win over George Washington on Sunday, added 15 points, six assists, six rebounds and three blocked shots. Larry Johnson added 11 to round out the double-figure scorers.
 
Murray State's Mason Miller was his team's lone double-digit scorer with 14 points.
 
One day after forcing 25 turnovers on George Washington, the Cowboys' defense made Murray State (4-3) turn it over 20 times which led to 27 points. McNeese scored 44 points in the paint for the game. The Racers had the advantage in rebounds, holding a 48-40 advantage but only 15-13 in offensive grabs.
 
Peitok Machar, who recorded his first career double-double in the win over GW, led the Cowboys in rebounding with seven boards.
 
McNeese connected on 41 percent from the field (29-70) but was held to 5 of 23 for 22 percent from three-point range. McNeese was also well below its average from the free throw line, making 10 of 19 for 53 percent but connected on 6 of 7 in the second half.
 
Murray State shot just 32 percent for the game (18-57) as McNeese held the Racers to just 17 percent (4-23) in the first half. MSU made 9 of 33 for 27 percent from long range and was 15 of 26 for 58 percent at the line.
 
Miller scored his team's first eight points including back-to-back 3s to give the Racers an early 6-0 lead. After trailing 8-2, McNeese rolled off 20-0 run over a 6:09 span to go up 22-8, holding the Racers to 0-9 shooting and turning them over eight times.
 
The Cowboys added a 13-1 run starting at the 6:36 mark and increasing the lead to 38-13 with 2:16 to play. Two scoring droughts by the Racers in the first half totaled 13:07 without scoring a point.
 
McNeese scored 23 points off 15 Murray State turnovers in the half. After the Racers hit two of their first three shots of the game, made only two field goals the rest of the half, going 2-for-21 the next 18 minutes. The Cowboys scored 23 points off turnovers in the half, 18 fast break points and held a 22-2 scoring advantage in the paint.
 
The Cowboys built their largest lead of the game at 31 points (57-26) following a Johnson driving layup with 13:02 to play in the game. From there, Murray State was able to claw closer but never threatened the Cowboys.