COMMERCE, Texas – McNeese men's basketball will hit the road for the next two Southland Conference games, first with a visit to East Texas A&M on Saturday and followed up with a Monday night contest at Northwestern State.
 
McNeese is 20-5 overall and 13-3 in league play, two games behind first place Stephen F. Austin and three games ahead of third place UTRGV. The Cowboys are one of 30 teams with 20 or more wins in the NCAA.
 
Tip-off of Saturday's game is 5 p.m. and will follow a 2:30 women's game. Monday's game will tip at 6:30. Both will broadcast on ESPN+.
 
East Texas A&M is 10-16 on the season and 5-11 in league play and is in a four-way tie for the No. 8 seed in the conference standings.
 
GAMEDAY NOTEBOOK:
• The 20 wins marks the third straight season for the program two win at least 20 games, a first in school history.
• 20 wins through the first 25 games marks the second-fastest ever to reach 20 in school history as a Division I school (23 games in 2023-24), and the third-fastest in the history of the program (24 games in 1955-56).
• McNeese players Javohn Garcia, DJ Richards Jr., and T'Johnn Brown are the winningest players in school history now with 78 wins in their three seasons as a Cowboy.
• The 78 wins are also the most by the team in school history over a three-year span.
• Against HCU on Monday, four Cowboys scored in double-figures - Javohn Garcia 18, Larry Johnson 14, Tyshawn Archie 11, and Jacolb Fredson-Cole with 10.
• Johnson's 14 points gives him at 423 on the season, ranking 4th all-time in school history for most points by a freshman (Joe Dumars 527, Henry Ray 492, Edmond Lawrence 433), and one of only five to ever do it at McNeese (Christian Shumate 404).
• East Texas A&M is 10-16 on the season and 5-11 in conference play and in a tie for the eighth and final spot in the postseason tournament with UIW, Southeastern and Northwestern State.
• The Lions are 5-5 at home this season including 2-5 in conference games.
• McNeese is 8-4 away from home and is 4-3 in road league games.
• Those three losses are by a combined 13 points.
• McNeese has won 25 straight games at home, the 2nd-longest current streak in the NCAA (Miami, Duke and Akron all with 28).
• That streak is currently the 4th-longest in the history of the Southland Conference.
 
SERIES vs. EAST TEXAS A&M
• Saturday's game will be the 24th meeting in the series with McNeese leading 15-8.
• The Cowboys hold a 6-2 lead in the series since ETAM joined the Southland Conference in 2023.
• McNeese has won six straight over the Lions, including 102-66 in Lake Charles back on Dec. 12.
• In that game, four Cowboys scored in double-digits led by Tyshawn Archie with 24 points and followed by Larry Johnson with 17, DJ Richards Jr. 16 and Javohn Garcia 11.
 
TALKING POINTS
• Javohn Garcia has recorded 144 career steals at McNeese, ranked 9th all-time and 7 away from moving into 8th.
• DJ Richards Jr. is 6th all-time with 213 made 3-pointers and 6th with 502 3FG attempts... in addition he's second all-time in 3FG percentage at .424.
• Garwey Dual has dished out 5 or more assists 10 times this season with a high of 11 against Biblical Studies (Nov. 10).
• With 106 assists on the year, Dual is 28 away from breaking into the top 10 single-season school record list.
• Dual has dished out multiple assists in 18 straight games.
• Larry Johnson has scored 17 or more points 15 times and in 7 of the last 9 games.
• Johnson is ranked 12th in the NCAA among freshmen with his 423 points scored.
• The Cowboys are ranked No. 60 in the latest NCAA NET rankings and No. 66 in the KenPom.
• McNeese has won at least 20 games through the first 25 for just the second time since becoming a Division I school with both times coming in the last three seasons (22-3 in 2023-24).
• The Cowboys have had 7 different players make at least 10 starts.
• All 10 regulars have scored double-digits at least once this season while eight players have scored 10 or more multiple times.
• 15 of the Cowboys' 20 wins have been by 10 points or more.
• Eight players are averaging at least 18 minutes of playing time a game while 10 are averaging 12 or more minutes.
• 28 straight regular season home conference wins, 3rd-longest streak in SLC history, and 32 consecutive wins over conference competition (including tournament games).
• McNeese is ranked No. 1 in the conference in 11 stat categories and ranked No. 2 in six more.
• McNeese is ranked No. 1 in the NCAA in steal percentage (15.2) and in turnover percentage (24.5), and is No. 2 in block percentage (17.3).
• The Cowboys are 14th in the NCAA in non-steal turnover percentage (9.4).
• McNeese has recorded 10 or more steals in a game 14 times including three straight games.
• The Cowboys have blocked multiple shots in all but two games and have five or more blocks in four straight games and in 13 on the season.