NEW ORLEANS – McNeese will look to take another step closer to locking up the No. 1 seed for the Southland Conference Tournament on Saturday when it visits New Orleans at Lakefront Arena.
 
Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m. and the game will broadcast on ESPN+ and on the McNeese Radio Network (Power 92.1 FM).
 
Sitting at 19-6 overall and 13-1 in conference play, McNeese has a three-game lead over Lamar and Southeastern in the standings. A win on Saturday will give the Cowboys their 20^th on the season, marking the first time since 2001 and 2002 to record back-to-back 20-win seasons and for just the fifth time in school history.
 
It'll also be the 400^th all-time Southland Conference victory, the first school past or present to achieve that milestone.
 
New Orleans is 4-21 on the year and 2-12 in the conference and has lost seven straight games including a 75-65 decision at UIW on Monday. The Privateers are in 11^th place in the standings and three games out of the eighth and final spot for the tournament.
 
NOTES ON THE POKES
• McNeese has won 5 straight games in the series including an 86-61 win in Lake Charles back on December 28 to begin Southland Conference play.
• UNO leads the all-time series 20-14.
• Cowboys' head coach Will Wade is 5-0 all-time against the Privateers.
• McNeese is ranked No. 7 in this week's CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll and is 9th in the latest Mid-Major Power Rankings.
• McNeese has compiled an overall record of 49-10 over the last two seasons, one win shy of matching the most wins in a 2-year span as a Division I school (43 wins in 2001 and 2002); the school record for victories over a 2-year span is 54 (1956-1957).
• The Cowboys are 30-2 in Southland Conference games the last two seasons.
• McNeese is the first team in the league to clinch a spot in the postseason Southland Conference Tournament and has a magic number of 4 to wrap up the overall No. 1 seed for the second straight year.
• 16-1 record when leading at half and 10-0 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).
• Made 12 three-pointers in back-to-back games (24-51 for .471 during that span) and ranking as the second-highest made during league play (16 at Northwestern State).
• 11-1 when shooting 50% or better in 2nd half for the season; 5-0 at 60% or better in 2nd half.
• Shot 50% or better in 2nd half in 9 of 13 SLC games.
• McNeese has a 14.8 scoring advantage in conference games.
• Quadir Copeland has dished out 3 or more assists in 7 straight games.
• DJ Richards Jr. has made 141 threes in his McNeese career, ranking 12th all-time in school history and needs 1 to move into 11th and 6 more to get into the top 10.
• Christian Shumate recorded his school record 38th double-double against East Texas A&M on Monday night, which also ranks him 3rd all-time in conference history.
• Eight different Cowboys have led the team in game scoring at least once this season and seven in rebounding.
• Javohn Garcia has led the team in scoring in 7 of the 14 conference games.