LAKE CHARLES – McNeese's quest for its third-straight Southland Conference Tournament Championship and NCAA Tournament berth gets started on Tuesday night when the No. 2 seeded Cowboys go up against 3rd-seeded UTRGV in the second semifinal game of the day.

Tip-off is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. and the game will broadcast on ESPN+ and will follow the first semifinal game pitting No. 1 Stephen F. Austin vs. No. 4 A&M-Corpus Christi. UTRGV defeated Nicholls 86-68 late Monday night in the quarterfinal round. This will mark the third matchup of the season between the Cowboys and Vaqueros with the teams each winning on their home courts - the Cowboys falling 79-76 at UTRGV back on Jan. 17 then winning, 75-68, at home on Feb. 23. This will mark the first time for the two teams to meet in the conference tournament.

General admission tickets for the game are just $10 while standing room only tickets can be purchased for $5.

The Cowboys (26-5) are making their league-record 36^th appearance in the postseason tournament and have compiled a 31-32 overall record, 4-0 the last two seasons.
 
McNeese will ride an eight-game winning streak into Tuesday's game, the sixth-longest current streak in the NCAA. The Cowboys have also won 27-straight games at home ranking as the third-longest in the nation. McNeese finished 14-0 at home this season, one of just 10 teams in the country to post an undefeated home record.
 
Winners of 12 out of their last 13 and 16 of 18, McNeese has been dominant at home this season, outscoring its opponents 88.4-62.7 for a +25.6 scoring margin. The Cowboys are making 52 percent of their shots on the home floor including just under 40 percent from three-point range. McNeese is also holding a +7.1 rebounding advantage and carries a 9.0 turnover margin.
 
Freshman phenom Larry Johnson has topped the team in scoring 11 of the 14 home games and has scored 20 or more in seven.
 
For the season, Johnson leads the team with a 17.2 scoring average and is coming off a 25-point outing at Nicholls last Monday in the regular season finale to help lift the Cowboys to a 75-65 win. That point total lifted Johnson over the great Joe Dumars as the school's single-season freshman scoring record holder, now with 532 points. He's ranked 14^th in the nation among freshman in total points scored.
 
Tyshawn Archie, who is averaging 14.3 points, joined Johnson on the All-Southland Conference first team. Johnson was named the league's Freshman of the Year and finished second in the voting for Player of the Year. Garwey Dual was named to the SLC All-Defensive team.
 
The Cowboys' 26 wins are the second-most in a regular season in school history. McNeese is on of 19 teams in Division I men's basketball with 26 or more wins.