NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The top two teams in the Southland Conference will clash at The Sawmill on Monday night when McNeese visits Stephen F. Austin with the winner having the upper hand for the overall No. 1 seed for the postseason league tournament just six weeks away.
 
Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30 at Johnson Coliseum and the game will broadcast on ESPN+
 
McNeese (18-4, 11-2 SLC) trails SFA (19-3, 12-1 SLC) by one game in the league standings in a race where the two teams have separated themselves from the rest of the pack for the top two seeds in the March 8-11 tournament which will be played at McNeese's Townsley Law Arena.
 
The Cowboys defeated the Lumberjacks 66-64 in Lake Charles back on January 5, and the last time the two teams played in Nacogdoches, McNeese posted a 95-64 win in last year's regular season finale.
 
In the first meeting of the season, McNeese trailed 38-34 at the half and was down by six points with seven minutes to play. A jumper by Jerrell Colbert put McNeese up by 2 with 1:15 remaining and DJ Richards Jr sank two free throws with six seconds to play to seal the win. Larry Johnson, who's coming off a 22-point game at Lamar and has scored 20 or more in three straight outings, led McNeese with 18 points that night while Tyshawn Archie scored 16.
 
McNeese has won four straight games heading into Monday's contest and is coming off a 64-63 win at Lamar on Saturday night. SFA is winners of seven straight games and defeated Southeastern 85-58 on Saturday at home where it's 11-0 on the season.
 
The Cowboys and Lumberjacks combine to lead the Southland Conference in 21 stat categories – 11 for McNeese and 10 for SFA.
 
Probable Starters:
Javohn Garcia, G (11.4 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 1.8 apg, 1.9 spg)
Tyshawn Archie, G (13.5 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 2.6 apg, 1.6 spg)
Larry Johnson, G (17.4 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 1.4 apg, 1.0 spg)
Carl Cherenfant, G (5.0 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 1.0 apg, 1.0 spg)
Jerrell Colber, F (5.2 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 1.3 bpg)
 
FIRST PLACE SHOWDOWN WHEN MCNEESE VISITS STEPHEN F. AUSTIN ON MONDAY
• The top two teams in the Southland Conference will clash on Monday night when McNeese visits Stephen F. Austin at 6:30 in SFA's Johnson Coliseum.
• The Cowboys, 18-4 overall and 11-2 in league play, are coming off a thrilling 64-63 win at Lamar on Saturday night for their fourth straight win while SFA (19-3, 12-1) whipped Southeastern 85-58 to capture its seventh consecutive victory.
• McNeese beat Stephen F. Austin 66-64 in Lake Charles back on Jan. 5 to hand the Lumberjacks their only league loss of the season.
• SFA is 11-0 at home this year with its last loss coming at the hands of the Cowboys in last year's regular season finale by a 95-64 score.
• McNeese has won three straight in the series while SFA holds a 47-42 overall lead in the all-time series.
• Both teams have first-year head coaches.
• McNeese is ranked No. 1 in the conference in 11 stat categories and second in six more while SFA is ranked No. 1 in 10 categories and second in four others.
• McNeese is ranked No. 1 in the NCAA in steal percentage (15.0) and No. 1 in the country in turnover percentage (24.5).
• The Cowboys are No. 3 in the NCAA in block percentage (16.7) and 14th in non-steal turnover percentage (9.4).
• McNeese is 46-11 over the last two seasons and 76-15 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.
 
JG: THE IRON MAN
• McNeese senior guard Javohn Garcia will make his 100th career start on Monday night at Stephen F. Austin.
• Now in his third season as a Cowboy, Garcia began his career at UMass where he started in 10 games as a freshman in 2020-21.
• Since his arrival at McNeese, the Columbus, Ohio native has started all 89 games as a Cowboy which also constitutes in 89 consecutive starts.
• In addition, Garcia has averaged 28.2 minutes played per game in his career at McNeese.
 
TALKING POINTS
• Jerrell Colbert recorded his first career double-double when he scored 10 points with 12 rebounds at Lamar on Saturday... the 12 rebounds were a career high... he also blocked five shots, also a career-best.
• Javohn Garcia has recorded 138 career steals at McNeese, ranked 10th all-time and one away from moving into ninth.
• Larry Johnson has scored 20 points or more in three straight games.
• The Cowboys are ranked No. 59 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 18 games through the first 22 for just the second time since becoming a Division I school with both times coming in the last three seasons (20-2 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 (7.1), No. 1 SLC and 2nd nationally in turnovers forced (17.0), No. 1 SLC and 5th nationally in steals per game (10.5).
• McNeese is also 5th in the NCAA in bench points scored per game (37.5) and 11th in the NCAA in fastbreak points (17.4).
• The Cowboys are No. 1 in the Southland Conference in 11 categories.
• 14 of the Cowboys' 18 wins have been by 10 points or more.
 
 SERIES vs. STEPHEN F. AUSTIN
• Monday night's game will mark the 90th meeting in the series with SFA holding a 47-42 lead.
• McNeese is 3-0 vs. SFA since the Lumberjacks' return to the Southland Conference at the beginning of last season.
• The Cowboys have won three straight, including a 66-64 win on January 5 in Lake Charles.
• The last time the two played at SFA was in last year's regular season finale where the Cowboys posted a 95-64 win for the teams' 19th conference win which tied SFA's league record of victories.
• McNeese defeated SFA 79-59 in Lake Charles last January 20 to renew the series after the Lumberjacks took a four-year hiatus to join the WAC.
 
WINNING CULTURE
• Since the start of the 2023-24 season, McNeese has compiled a 76-15 overall record, including a 47-4 Southland Conference record over the last three seasons... 46-11 overall the last two seasons.
• McNeese has won 23 straight home games dating back to last season with the last loss coming against Santa Clara last December.
• 63-1 record when leading at the half over the last three years, 14-0 this season.