OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma – McNeese will take on Vanderbilt at 2:15 Thursday afternoon in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Paycom Arena.
 
The game will broadcast nationally on TruTV.
 
McNeese (28-5) is the No. 12 seed and will look to repeat last year's first round outcome as the 12^th-seeded team when it defeated Clemson. Vanderbilt, ranked 16^th in both the AP and coaches polls, is seeded fifth.
 
MARCH MADNESS NOTES
• McNeese will be playing in its third-consecutive NCAA Tournament, and fifth overall, and has compiled a 1-5 record.
• The Cowboys are the first school in Southland Conference history to be listed as a 12 seed three straight seasons.
• McNeese, who finished second in the league standings with a 19-3 record, won the conference's automatic bid after defeating regular season champion Stephen F. Austin 76-59 in last Wednesday's championship game.
• McNeese is joined by Akron as the only two teams in Division I MBB to currently win three-straight conference tournament championships.
• Last year the Cowboys upset Clemson 69-67 in the first round for the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament win then fell to 4th-seeded Purdue, 76-62.
• McNeese senior guards Javohn Garcia and DJ Richard Jr. will be making their third straight NCAA Tournament appearance with the Cowboys and are the two winningest players in school history with 86 victories.
• With a 28-5 record, the Cowboys have produced the second-most wins in school history as a Division I school (30 in 2023-24) while the 19 league wins are tied for the most in school history (19 last year).
• McNeese will ride into March Madness with a 10-game winning streak, currently tied as the 4th-longest streak in the nation (High Point 14, UMBC 12, Duke and South Florida 11, McNeese and Akron 10).
• It's the longest winning streak of the season for McNeese and longest since winning 12-straight to end the regular season last year with the 12th being the win over Clemson in the NCAA First Round.
• The Cowboys are 28-0 on the year when playing at home or at a neutral site.
• Two of McNeese's non-conference opponents are in March Madness - No. 1 seeded Michigan and No. 10 Santa Clara.
• McNeese and Vanderbilt will be playing for the first time.
 
WINNING CULTURE
• Since the start of the 2023-24 season, McNeese has compiled a 86-16 overall record, including a 55-5 Southland Conference record over the last three seasons... 56-12 overall the last two seasons.
• McNeese has won 29 straight home games dating back to last season with the last loss coming against Santa Clara in December of 2024.
• McNeese has won 34-straight home games against Southland Conference competition (regular season and tournament games).
• McNeese finished 16-0 at home this season, one of just 10 teams in the country to post an undefeated home record in the regular season.
• 72-1 record when leading at the half over the last three years, 23-0 this season.
 
SUCCESS WHEN SCORING 80+
• McNeese is 40-0 the last three years when scoring 80 points or more, 12-0 this season.
• The Cowboys have scored 90 or more seven times this year and 100 or more three times.
 
TAKEAWAY TRAIN
• McNeese is ranked No. 1 in the NCAA in turnover margin with a +7.3 mark.
• The Cowboys are forcing 16.9 turnovers per game, ranking No. 2 in the nation, and have forced 20 or more turnovers 10 times on the year and 10 or more turnovers in all 33 games.
• Only twice have the Cowboys turned the ball over more than their opponents, both times to SFA.
 
TEAM TALKING POINTS
• The Cowboys received one vote in this week's AP poll, the first vote for McNeese in the poll since the start of last year's NCAA Tournament.
• McNeese is ranked No. 1 in the NCAA in steal% at 15.3 and No. 1 in turnover% at 24.6.
• The Cowboys are 11th in the nation in non-steal turnover% at 9.3.
• On the offensive side, the Cowboys are 2nd in the NCAA giving the ball up via steal at 6.7%.
• McNeese is one of 15 teams in Division I men's basketball with 28 or more wins on the season.
• The Cowboys' 26 wins in the regular season are the second-most in a in school history while the 28 overall wins are the second-most as a Division I school and 3rd-most overall in the history of the program.
• The Cowboys' 19 conference wins ties a school record that was set last season, and are ranked as the 2nd-most wins in league history.
• McNeese has won 10-straight games since losing 67-60 at SFA on February 2... it's currently the 4th-longest winning streak in the NCAA.
• Winners of 14 of the last 15 games and 18 out of the last 20.
• The Cowboys have won 29-straight games at home, ranking as the 3rd-longest in the nation and 4th-longest in the history of the Southland Conference.
• McNeese is 55-5 in Southland Conference play the last three years.
• The 55 wins are a conference record over a three-year span.
 
INDIVIDUAL TALKING POINTS
• McNeese's Javohn Garcia and DJ Richards Jr. are the winningest players in school history now with 86 wins in their three seasons as a Cowboy.
• Tyshawn Archie's 17 points against SFA in the SLC Championship game reached the 1,000 points scored milestone in his career, now with 1,002.
• Richards Jr. has scored 997 points in his McNeese career, needing 3 more to reach the 1,000 milestone; he's scored 1,322 points in his full career.
• Larry Johnson was named to the Mid-Major Freshman of the Year Watch List by MiniHoopsAlert.
• Johnson leads the team with 29 double-digit scoring games followed by Tyshawn Archie with 28.
• Johnson leads the team with 12, 20-point scoring games, followed by Archie with four.
• Larry Johnson has scored 17 or more points 20 times and in 12 of the last 16 games.
• DJ Richards Jr. is 6th all-time with 227 made 3-pointers and 6th with 550 3FG attempts... in addition he's second all-time in 3FG percentage at .413.
• Garwey Dual has dished out 5 or more assists 14 times this season with a high of 11 against Biblical Studies (Nov. 10).
• With 142 assists on the year, Dual has moved into 10th on the school's single-season record list for assists.
• Dual has dished out multiple assists in 24 of the last 26 games.
• 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 18 times including 7 of the last 10 games.
• The Cowboys have blocked multiple shots in all but four games and have five or more blocks in 14 games on the season.
 
JOHNSON BREAKS THE GREAT JOE DUMARS FRESHMAN SCORING RECORD
• Freshman Larry Johnson made history at Nicholls in the regular season finale when his 25 points were enough to break Joe Dumars' 44-year-old freshman scoring record of 527 set in the 1981-82 season.
• With 577 points to date, Johnson is ranked 8th in the NCAA among freshmen.
• Johnson is the first freshman in school history to top the 500 points/150 rebounds milestones.
• His 17.5 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 8th in the NCAA in total points scored among freshmen.
 
JOHNSON NAMED FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR, EARNS 1ST TEAM HONORS; ARCHIE, DUAL HONORED
• Following a freshman regular season that saw him break a 44-year-old scoring record held by the great Joe Dumars, McNeese guard Larry Johnson has been selected as the 2026 Southland Conference Freshman of the Year.
• In addition, Johnson was named All-SLC first team along with junior guard Tyshawn Archie while Garwey Dual was named to the All-Defensive team.
• Johnson is the third Cowboy to earn the freshman of the year award (Jason Coleman, 2000; Johnathan Massie, 2022).
 
ARMSTRONG NAMED FINALIST 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 tournament championship and NCAA Tournament appearance, and because of that, he's been named a finalist for the 2025-26 Joe B. Hall Award which is presented annually to the top first-time head coach in Division I college basketball.
 
SLC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
• Two Cowboys have been named the Southland Conference's Player of the Week this season - Tyshawn Archie (Dec. 15) and Larry Johnson (Feb. 2 and Mar. 3).