THIBODAUX - McNeese will complete the 2025-26 regular season portion of its schedule with a visit to Nicholls on Monday night at 6:30 in a game that will broadcast nationally on CBSSN.
The Cowboys are in second place in the Southland Conference standings with an 18-3 record and a win would match a school record for most league victories at 19 (19-1 in 2024-25), which is also a Southland Conference record.
A win could also give the Cowboys a share of the league title should Stephen F. Austin lose at UIW, and possibly a No. 1 seed if that were to happen and UTRGV lose to Northwestern State and New Orleans beat Southeastern.
McNeese, 25-5 overall, has won at least 25 games in each of the last three seasons, another school first. The Cowboys will carry a season-high seven-game winning streak into Monday night's game, and winners in the last 11 out of 12.
The Cowboys have won three straight road games and six of their last seven away from home.
Nicholls is 13-17 overall and 12-9 in the conference and is still in the running for a first-round bye in the tournament.
GAMEDAY NOTEBOOK:
• McNeese is 54-5 in Southland Conference play the last three years.
• The 54 wins are a conference record over a three-year span.
• The Cowboys defeated UNO 66-63 on Saturday despite being without Javohn Garcia for the game and most of the second half without Larry Johnson (cramps) and Garwey Dual (fouls).
• The Colonels are tied with A&M-Corpus Christi and New Orleans for fourth place and are one game behind UTRGV for third.
• Nicholls handed McNeese its only conference loss last season, winning 71-63 in Thibodaux.
• The Colonels are 6-5 at home this season and are coming off a 68-60 win over Southeastern on Saturday.
SERIES vs. NICHOLLS
• Monday's game will mark the 109th meeting in the series with McNeese leading 60-48.
• McNeese handed Nicholls its first conference loss of the season this year back on Jan. 12 by a 94-68 score.
• In that game, Larry Johnson recorded his first-career double-double with 24 points and 10 rebounds and DJ Richards Jr. scored 20 points behind 4 of 6 shooting from 3-point range.
• Nicholls beat McNeese 71-63 last season in Thibodaux to hand the Cowboys their only conference loss.
• Colonels' head coach Tevon Saddler was an assistant coach at McNeese for the 2021-22 season.
JOHNSON MAKES HISTORY; CONTINUES TO CLIMB FRESHMAN SCORING LIST
• Freshman Larry Johnson made history with his 17 points scored at New Orleans on Saturday night as he became the first freshman in school history to reach the 500 points, 150 rebounds scored in a single-season.
• He'll enter Monday's game with 507 points and 157 rebounds on the season.
• He's currently ranked No. 2 among freshmen scoring in school history and needs just 21 points to pass Hall of Famer Joe Dumars who scored 527 points in his freshman season in 1981-82.
• His 16.9 scoring average ranks as the 3rd-best in school history among freshmen, following Henry Ray (19.7) and Joe Dumars (18.2).
• Johnson is ranked 12th in the NCAA in total points scored among freshmen and is one of just 14 freshmen in the nation to score 500 points on the year.
INDIVIDUAL TALKING POINTS
• McNeese's Javohn Garcia and DJ Richards Jr. are the winningest players in school history now with 83 wins in their three seasons as a Cowboy.
• Richards Jr. will play in his 100th game as a Cowboy on Monday.
• Larry Johnson has been named to the Mid-Major Freshman of the Year Watch List by MiniHoopsAlert.
• Johnson leads the team with 26 double-digit scoring games followed by Tyshawn Archie with 25.
• Johnson also leads the team with 10, 20-point scoring games, followed by Archie with four.
• Larry Johnson has scored 17 or more points 18 times and in 10 of the last 14 games.
• DJ Richards Jr. is 6th all-time with 220 made 3-pointers and 6th with 531 3FG attempts... in addition he's second all-time in 3FG percentage at .418.
• Garwey Dual has dished out 5 or more assists 12 times this season with a high of 11 against Biblical Studies (Nov. 10).
• With 123 assists on the year, Dual is 16 away from breaking into the top 10 single-season school record list.
• Dual has dished out multiple assists in 21 of the last 23 games.
TEAM TALKING POINTS
• The Cowboys are ranked No. 60 in the latest NCAA NET rankings and No. 68 in the KenPom.
• McNeese in the Mid-Major Polls: T3 One-Bid Top 32 (6), Field of 68 (6), CollegeInsider (14), Mid-Major Power 25 (14), Mid-Major Madness (17).
• The Cowboys' three SLC losses are by a combined 13 points.
• McNeese is ranked No. 1 in the conference in nine stat categories and ranked No. 2 in nine others.
• McNeese is ranked No. 1 in the NCAA in steal percentage (15.1) and in turnover percentage (24.6) and is No. 6 in block percentage (16.8).
• The Cowboys are 11th in the NCAA in non-steal turnover percentage (9.5).
• The Cowboys have connected on 50% or better from the field in nine conference games and 12 games overall.
• 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.
• 18 of the Cowboys' 25 wins have been by 10 points or more.
• Eight players are averaging at least 17 minutes of playing time a game while 10 are averaging 12 or more minutes.
• McNeese has recorded 10 or more steals 17 times including 6 of the last 8 games.
• The Cowboys have blocked multiple shots in all but four games and have five or more blocks in 13 games on the season
