NEW ORLEANS – DJ Richards Jr. matched a season-high with 21 points against New Orleans, the same amount he scored against the Privateers in the Southland Conference opener, and Brandon Murray sank a season-best 17 points as McNeese picked up its 20^th win for the second straight year following a 78-64 win on Saturday.
 
The win improved the Cowboys to 20-6 overall and 14-1 in league play and they maintain a three-game lead in the conference standings with five games remaining. McNeese will visit Southeastern on Monday night at 6. The Lions are tied for second place with Lamar.
 
Richards Jr. connected on 6 of 9 from three-point range in the game, a total that moved him into a tie for 10^th on the McNeese all-time three-pointers made list at 147. He's made 14 of 25 from behind the arc the last three games.
 
Murray shot 6 of 9 from the field and was 3 for 5 in 3s.
 
Christian Shumate added 14 points and seven rebounds and Sincere Parker scored 11 points. Joe Charles led the team with 10 rebounds.
 
McNeese led 42-25 at the break but it wasn't until the 8-minute mark the Cowboys took over.
 
UNO (4-22, 2-13) led 22-21 with 8:21 to play in the half. McNeese outscored the Privateers 21-3 the rest of the half as the defense held UNO to 1-for-7 shooting and forced it into seven turnovers during that span.
 
McNeese used a balanced scoring attack during the run with Murray and Parker each scoring six points, Shumate four, Richard Jr. three and Bryant Selebangue two.
 
The Cowboys held their largest lead at 58-35 following a T'Johnn Brown layup with 12:43 to play but the Privateers battled back with a 20-4 run which was charged by 4-for-4 shooting from 3-point range and pulled to within 62-55 with 6:56 remaining.
 
But the first place Cowboys were too much for the Privateers and struck fast with consecutive 3s by Murray and Richards Jr. followed by a Shumate tip-in as the lead grew back to a 15-point margin.
 
Murray hit another trey a couple minutes later followed by one by Parker with 2:22 left and a 76-61 advantage.
 
McNeese made 11 of 32 from three-point range for the game and hit 6 of 15 in the second half. Overall, McNeese shot 44 percent (32-72).
 
UNO made 25 of 56 from the floor for 45 percent and 10 of 21 (48 percent) from long range.
 
Postgame Notebook:
• McNeese won its 20^th game for the second straight season, the first since 2001 and 2002, and the fifth time in school history.
• The Cowboys are one of 23 teams in the nation to have 20 wins.
• McNeese's magic number to clinch the No. 1 seed is now at three.
• The win notched the 400^th Southland Conference victory in school history as McNeese becomes the first school in the conference, past or present, to reach the milestone.
• DJ Richards Jr. moved into a tie for 10^th on the McNeese all-time 3-pointers made list, now with 147.
• His 21 points scored increased his career total to 971, needing 29 more to reach 1,000 in his career.
• With his 10 rebounds in the game, Joe Charles is 23 away from 700 in his career (677).
• McNeese has now won four straight games and 15 of its last 16.
• The win was No. 238 for head coach Will Wade in his career, and No. 42 at McNeese.