McNeese (1-0) at Santa Clara (1-0)
Friday, November 7, 2025 • 9 p.m. CT
Leavey Center • Santa Clara, Calif
 
Broadcast Information:
Time: 9:00 p.m. CT
TV: ESPN+ (LINK) – Anthony Passarelli (PxP), Brian Hudson (Analyst)
Radio: None
Live Stats: StatBroadcast (Link)
 
PROJECTED LINEUP
Pos. No.   Name                       Yr.    Ht.   Wt.    Pts.   Reb.  Asst.  Stl.   Fg%   3Fg%   Ft%
G       1    Javohn Garcia            Sr.    6-3   185    10.0   2.0    3.0    3.0   .273   .500    .667
G       2    DJ Richards Jr.            Sr.    6-3   183    13.0   4.0    2.0    0.0   .667   .600    2-2
G       8    Tyshawn Archie         Jr.    6-1   165    16.0   3.0    5.0    1.0   .500   0-3      0-0
F       10  Jacolb Fredson-Cole    So.   6-7   220    11.0   7.0    6.0    2.0   .750   .500    4-4
F       13  Yanis Ndjonga             Jr.    6-8   220    9.0    11.0   1.0    2.0   .429   .500    2-2
 
OFF THE BENCH
G       6    Larry Johnson            Fr.     6-4   200    30.0   7.0    0.0    1.0   .750   0-3      6-6
F       7    Jerrell Colbert            Sr.     6-10 235    7.0    6.0    1.0    0.0   .500   0-1      1-2
G       3    Garwey Dual              Jr.     6-5   205    15.0   4.0    5.0    2.0   .625   .500    3-4
F       15  Peitok Machar           So.    6-10 215    7.0    4.0    2.0 (bpg) 0  2-2    0-0      3-5
G       23  Carl Cherenfant         Jr.     6-5   195    7.0    6.0    1.0    2.0   .286   0-3      3-5
 
McNEESE VISITS SANTA CLARA FOR EARLY MID-MAJOR CLASH
• McNeese will hit the road for the first time this season when it visits Santa Clara on Friday night with tip-off scheduled for 9 p.m. Lake Charles time... the game will broadcast live on ESPN+.
• The Cowboys are coming off a 127-65 season opening win at home against Champion Christian in a game that saw 11 players score with six in double-figures, led by freshman Larry Johnson's 30 points.
• Santa Clara, a member of the West Coast Conference, defeated Cal Poly Humboldt 83-53 on Tuesday night.
• This will be the second meeting between the two in the series… SC defeated McNeese 74-67 in Lake Charles last December to have the Cowboys their only home loss in the last two seasons.
• Santa Clara is ranked No. 16 and McNeese No. 20 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 Preseason Poll.
 
McNEESE ONE OF 17 TEAMS LISTED BY ESPN THAT COULD WIN 30 GAMES THIS SEASON
• The Cowboys lost four starters after winning 28 games and reaching the second round of the NCAA tournament last season. Will Wade is gone, too, but his longtime assistant Bill Armstrong takes over to add to the 58 victories accumulated over the past two years. The reason McNeese could extend that trend? Reigning Southland Player of the Year Javohn Garcia (12.6 PPG) is ready to prove he's one of the best mid-major players in the country.
 
JOHNSON PRODUCES RECORD-BREAKING NIGHT IN OPENER
• Freshman transfer Larry Johnson became the first Cowboy to score 30 points in making his collegiate debut.
• The transfer from Creighton connected on 12 of 16 from the field (12 of 13 in 2-pointers) and made all six of his free throws while playing just 17:45.
• He's only the fifth freshman in school history to score 30 points in a game and the first since 1997 (Demond Mallet).
• According to OptaSTATS, Johnson is the only Division I men's or women's, NBA or WNBA player to score 30 points coming off the bench, without playing 20 minutes, without committing a turnover, without committing a foul, and without missing a free throw.
 
"JOHNSON JAM" IS BORN
• The last four seasons McNeese had the "Shu Slams" for Christian Shumate's electric dunks, now it's the "Johnson Jam" for Larry Johnson's athletic slams.
• Johnson threw down three of the Cowboys' eight dunks in Monday's opener, one off an alley-oop and another on a break-away that ended with a 360-degree jam.
 
LAST TIME OUT: McNeese 127, Champion Christian 65
• McNeese set a new Townsley Law Arena record by scoring 127 points in Monday night's win over Champion Christian in head coach Bill Armstrong's head coaching debut.
•11 players got into the game and all 11 scored.
• Nine of the 11 players made their McNeese debut.
• McNeese led 70-25 at the half, setting a new record for most points in a first half and the 2nd-most points scored in either half.
• No Cowboy played more than 24 minutes and only one played 23 (Carl Cherenfant, 23:12).
• McNeese scored 72 points in the paint, 34 fast-break points, and 39 points off turnovers.
• The 87 field goal attempts were the most taken since putting up 83 against Champion Christian in November 2022.
• The 57 total rebounds are the most since pulling down 51 against CC in that 2022 game.
• McNeese is 34-1 in its last 35 games played in Townsley Law Arena.
 
NOTEBOOK
• McNeese enters Friday's game ranked No. 20 in the CollegeInsider Preseason Top 25 Mid-Major poll while Santa Clara is ranked 17th.
• The Cowboys are ranked 6th in the T3 One-Bid League Top 32 poll.
• With his three 3-point goals on Monday night, DJ Richards Jr. has made 171 in his career for 7th on the all-time school list and needing 28 more to move into 6th.
• Javohn Garcia reached a milestone with his three steals to give him 100 in his McNeese career while his 10 points gives him 807 career points scored at McNeese and 1,135 in his overall career.
 
THREE GAMES TO BE AIRED ON NATIONAL TV
• McNeese will play three regular season games on national TV this season, a record for most regular season games to be televised on linear television.
• Two of the games will be at home - Jan. 2 vs. Lamar (CBSSN) and Feb. 21 vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (ESPNU) while a March 2 contest at Nicholls will also air on CBSSN.
• Last season, McNeese had two regular season games broadcast nationally – at Mississippi State and at Stephen F. Austin – both on ESPNU... It's conference tournament semifinal game against Northwestern State also aired on ESPNU while the championship contest versus Lamar was shown on ESPN2... The NCAA Tournament First Round win over Clemson was broadcast on TruTV while the second round game against Purdue aired on CBS for a total of six nationally broadcast games.
• McNeese can match that number, or better it, with a run in the postseason again.