BEAUMONT – McNeese will visit Lamar on Saturday for the second go-around of the Battle of the Border rivalry series.
 
Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. and the game will broadcast on ESPN+.
 
McNeese will enter the game with a 17-4 overall record and 10-2 in Southland Conference play while coming off a 76-66 win at Southeastern this past Tuesday. Lamar is 11-10 overall and 6-6 in the league and defeated East Texas A&M 82-61 at home its last time out.
 
The Cowboys defeated the Cardinals 82-70 in Lake Charles back on Jan. 2 for their seventh-straight win in the series.
 
Fans can purchase tickets on the Lamar Cardinals athletic website by using promo code BOTB.
 
PROBABLE STARTERS
Javohn Garcia, G – 11.8 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 1.8 apg, 1.9 spg
Tyshawn Archie, G – 13.8 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 2.6 apg, 1.6 spg
Larry Johnson, G – 17.1 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 1.3 apg, 0.9 spg
Carl Cherenfant, G – 5.2 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 1.1 apg, 1.1 spg
Jerrell Colbert, F – 5.0 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 1.1 bpg
 
McNEESE VISITS LAMAR FOR ROUND 2 FOR THE BATTLE OF THE BORDER
• McNeese will visit Lamar for the second time this season in the Battle of the Border rivalry game on Saturday a Lamar's Neches Arena.
• The Cowboys, 17-4 overall and 10-2 in league play, are coming off 76-66 win at Southeastern this past Tuesday.
• Lamar defeated East Texas A&M, 82-61, at home on Tuesday to improve to 11-10 overall and 6-6 in league play.
• The Cardinals are 6-4 at home on the year including 3-3 in home conference games.
• McNeese has won seven straight in the series including an 82-70 win over the Cardinals in the Townsley Law Arena back on Jan. 2.
• The Cowboys are 9-1 over the Cardinals in the last 10 matchups.
• The last two games played in Beaumont were two-point victories for the Cowboys - 68-66 last March and 58-56 on a last second win in February 2024 when Antavion Collum hit a three-pointer with 3.8 seconds to play.
• McNeese is ranked No. 1 in the NCAA in steal percentage (15.2) and No. 1 in the country in turnover percentage (24.8).
• The Cowboys are No. 4 in the NCAA in block percentage (16.4) and 13th in non-steal turnover percentage (9.5).
• McNeese is 45-11 over the last two seasons and 75-15 over the last three, ranking as one of the best records in the NCAA during those spans.
• Eight players are averaging at least 18 minutes of playing time a game while 10 are averaging 12 or more minutes.
 
TALKING POINTS
• The Cowboys are ranked No. 55 in the latest NCAA NET rankings and No. 68 in the KenPom.
• In the mid-major polls, McNeese is No. 5 in the T3 Bracketology One-Bid League Top 32, No. 8 in the Field of 68 Mid-Major Top 25, No. 15 in the Mid-Major Power 25, and No. 17 in both the Mid-Major Madness and CollegeInsider polls.
• The Cowboys finished its non-conference slate with a 7-2 record, including a 5-2 mark against Division I opponents.
• McNeese has won at least 17 games through the first 21 for just the second time since becoming a Division I school with both times coming in the last three seasons (19-2 in 2023-24).
• The Cowboys have had 8 different players make at least 8 starts.
• All 10 regulars have scored double-digits at least once this season while eight players have scored 10 or more multiple times.
• The Cowboys lead the SLC and are No. 2 in the NCAA in turnover margin (7.4), No. 1 SLC and 2nd nationally in turnovers forced (17.3), No. 1 SLC and 6th nationally in steals per game (10.6).
• McNeese is also 4th in the NCAA in bench points scored per game (38.5) and 13th in the NCAA in fastbreak points (17.1).
• The Cowboys are No. 1 in the Southland Conference in 11 categories.
• 14 of the Cowboys' 17 wins have been by 10 points or more.
• McNeese's non-conference schedule ranked as the 14th toughest in the nation.
 
SERIES vs. LAMAR
• Tuesday's game will be the 122nd meeting all-time against Lamar with the Cowboys leading 61-60.
• McNeese has won seven in a row against the Cardinals, including an 82-70 win in Lake Charles on January 2.
• In that game, Larry Johnson scored 19 points to lead four Cowboys in double-figures.
• Lamar dominated the offensive glass with 19 offensive rebounds that led to 30 second chance points.
• The Cowboys are 9-1 against the Cardinals in the last 10 games.
 
ARMSTRONG NOMINATED FOR JOE B. HALL AWARD AS NATION'S TOP FIRST-YEAR COACH
• McNeese first year head coach Bill Armstrong has the Cowboys on path for their third straight Southland Conference championship and NCAA Tournament appearance, and because of that, he's been nominated for the 2025-26 Joe B. Hall Award which is presented annually to the top first-time head coach in Division I college basketball.
• The Cowboys are currently 17-4 overall, the second-best start in school history since becoming a Division I program 19-2 in 2023-24).
• Finalists will be announced in late February-early March.
 
WINNING CULTURE
• Since the start of the 2023-24 season, McNeese has compiled a 75-15 overall record, including a 46-4 Southland Conference record over the last three seasons.
• McNeese has won 23 straight home games dating back to last season with the last loss coming against Santa Clara last December.
• 62-1 record when leading at the half over the last three years, 13-0 this season.
• McNeese is 45-11 over the last two seasons ranking as one of the best records in the NCAA during that span.
 
SUCCESS WHEN SCORING 80+
• McNeese is 37-0 since the start of the 2023-24 season when scoring 80 points or more, 9-0 this season.
• The Cowboys have scored 90 or more six times this year and 100 or more three times.
 
TAKEAWAY TRAIN
• McNeese is ranked No. 2 in the NCAA in turnover margin with a +7.3 mark.
• The Cowboys have forced 20 or more turnovers 7 times on the year and 10 or more in all 21 games.
• McNeese has forced more turnovers than committed in every game.
 
JOHNSON CLIMBING FRESHMAN SCORING LIST
• Freshman Larry Johnson has scored 360 points this season, moving up to No. 8 on the school's single-season freshman scoring list.
• He's 40 points away from becoming only the 5th freshman in school history to score 400 in a season.
• His 17.1 scoring average ranks as the 3rd-highest in school history among freshmen, following Henry Ray (19.7) and Joe Dumars (18.2).
 
5 COWBOYS RANKED TOP 15 PLAYERS IN SLC BY EVAN MIYA ANALYTICS
• According to Evan Miya's analytics, McNeese possesses five of the top 15 players in the Southland Conference, including the top three.
• Garwey Dual is ranked No. 1 with a 5.88 BPR (Bayesian Performance Rating) while Larry Johnson is 2nd at 5.85 and Javohn Garcia 3rd with a 5.37 rating.
• Tyshawn Archie is ranked 6th with a 3.75 rating while DJ Richards Jr. is 14th with a 2.36 score.