LAKE CHARLES – McNeese returns home on Saturday for the first of two games in the Townsley Law Arena when it hosts UIW.
 
Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m. The game will broadcast on ESPN+.
 
McNeese enters with an 18-5 overall record and 11-3 in Southland Conference play, two games behind Stephen F. Austin for first place in the league standings and two games up on Nicholls as the No. 2 team. UIW is 10-13 overall and 5-9.
 
Promotion:
• Saturday's game is Alumni Day where former players will be recognized at halftime.
• First Responders/Hometown Heroes Game.
• $5 General Admission tickets.
• Free rally towels for all fans courtesy of ACE.
• First responder units will be parked outside the Townsley Law Arena, including blue and gold fire truck, SWAT and police vehicles.
 
McNEESE RETURNS HOME FOR REMATCHES vs. UIW, HCU
• McNeese returns to the Townsley Law Arena for the next two games when it hosts UIW on Saturday and HCU on Monday.
• The Cowboys will be looking to get revenge on the Cardinals who posted a 71-67 win over McNeese in the conference opener back on December 1.
• The Cowboys, 18-5 overall and 11-3 in league play, had their four-game winning streak ended in a 67-60 loss at first place Stephen F. Austin last Monday while UIW (10-13, 5-9 SLC) knocked off A&M-Corpus Christi 71-69 for its first road win of the season.
• McNeese has won 23 straight games at home, tying with Utah Valley as 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.
• 26 straight regular season home conference wins, 3rd-longest streak in SLC history, and 30 consecutive wins over conference competition (including tournament games).
• McNeese is ranked No. 1 in the conference in nine stat categories and second in seven more.
• McNeese is ranked No. 2 in the NCAA in steal percentage (15.0), turnover percentage (24.1), and block percentage (16.8).
• The Cowboys are 22nd in the NCAA in non-steal turnover percentage (9.1).
• McNeese is 46-12 over the last two seasons and 76-16 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.
 
JOHNSON NAMED SLC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
• Larry Johnson was named this week's Southland Conference Player of the Week for his performance in wins at Southeastern and Lamar.
• Johnson scored 20 or more in each game, netting 20 points against Southeastern and 22 vs. Lamar.
• He connected on 14 of 24 (.583) and was 5 for 9 from 3-point range.
• For the season, the freshman has scored 20 or more points eight times and double-figures 20 times.
 
JOHNSON CLIMBING FRESHMAN SCORING LIST
• Freshman Larry Johnson has scored 392 points this season, moving up to No. 6 on the school's single-season freshman scoring list.
• He's eight points away from becoming only the 5th freshman in school history to score 400 in a season.
• His 17.0 scoring average ranks as the 3rd-highest in school history among freshmen, following Henry Ray (19.7) and Joe Dumars (18.2).
 
WINNING CULTURE
• Since the start of the 2023-24 season, McNeese has compiled a 76-16 overall record, including a 47-5 Southland Conference record over the last three seasons... 46-12 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.
 
HOME SWEET HOME
• McNeese has won 23 straight games in Townsley Law Arena, tied as the 2nd-longest current streak in the NCAA.
• Since the beginning of the 2023-24 season, McNeese has compiled a record of 43-1 inside the Townsley Law Arena the last 44 games with the lone loss coming against Santa Clara last season.
• McNeese has won 30 straight games against conference competition (26 regular season and 4 tournament games).
• The Cowboys have won 26 straight regular season conference games in Townsley Law Arena dating back to the 2022-23 season with the last loss coming on Feb. 18, 2023 to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi... it's the 3rd-longest streak in the history of the conference.
• The Cowboys have a +31.5scoring margin at home this season, outscoring their opponents by a 93.8-62.3 score.
• McNeese is shooting 52.5% at home (327-623) including 38.5% from 3FG range (84-218).
• Produced a +8.6 turnover margin in home games.
 
SERIES vs. UIW
• Saturday's game will be the 18th meeting in the series with McNeese leading 11-6.
• McNeese is 7-1 at home against UIW including 4-1 in the Townsley Law arena with the lone loss occurring back on Feb. 26, 2022 (69-67).
• UIW defeated McNeese 71-67 in San Antonio back on Dec. 1 in the conference opener to snap the Cowboys' 4-game winning streak over the Cardinals.
• In that game, UIW's Davion Bailey knocked down seven 3-pointers to pace the team.
• McNeese rallied from a double-digit second half deficit and took a 67-66 lead after a Javohn Garcia layup with 29 seconds to play, then after a UIW free throw and a Marcus Glove tip-in off a miss with 9 seconds remaining put UIW on top 69-67, Tyshawn Archie missed on an attempt to tie the game with just over a second to play.
 
TALKING POINTS
• Jerrell Colbert has recorded double-doubles in back-to-back games.
• Colbert is averaging 12.0 points, 11.5 rebounds, and 4.0 blocks per game in the last two.
• Javohn Garcia has recorded 139 career steals at McNeese, ranked tied for 9th all-time.
• Garwey Dual dished out 5 assists at SFA and has contributed 5 or more assists nine times this season.
• The Cowboys are ranked No. 61 in the latest NCAA NET rankings and No. 70 in the KenPom.
• 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 23 for just the second time since becoming a Division I school with both times coming in the last three seasons (21-2 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.
• 14 of the Cowboys' 18 wins have been by 10 points or more.
 
JG: THE IRON MAN
• McNeese senior guard Javohn Garcia will make his 101st career start on Saturday against UIW.
• 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 90 games as a Cowboy which also constitutes in 90 consecutive starts.
• In addition, Garcia has averaged 28.1 minutes played per game in his career at McNeese.
 
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 18-5 overall, the second-best start in school history since becoming a Division I program 21-2 in 2023-24).
• Finalists will be announced in late February-early March.
 
GARCIA REACHES 1,000 CAREER POINTS FOR 2ND TIME; RICHARDS JR. CLOSING IN
• McNeese senior guard Javohn Garcia scored his 1,000th point as McNeese Cowboy when he netted 12 against Nicholls on Jan. 12.
• It's the second time in his career to score 1,000 career points - last season, Garcia, who played two seasons at UMass before joining McNeese for the 2023-24 season, scored his overall 1,000th point.
• He's the first player in school history to score 1,000 in a career twice.
• He'll enter Saturday's game with 1,375 total career points scored and 1,047 points at McNeese
• DJ Richards Jr. is closing in on the same milestone.
• Richards Jr., who played his freshman season at UTSA, scored his 1,000th overall career point last year and is 85 points away from scoring his 1,000th as a McNeese Cowboy.
• Richards Jr. has scored 1,260 total points in his career and 923 at McNeese.
 
 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. 3 in the NCAA in turnover margin with a +6.7 mark.
• The Cowboys are forcing 16.70 turnovers per game, also No. 3 in the nation, and have forced 20 or more turnovers 7 times on the year and 10 or more turnovers in all 23 games.
• McNeese has forced more turnovers than committed all but one game.