The Cowboys hoped to get Alyn Breed back in the lineup around the new year, but that will be delayed.

McNeese State head coach Will Wade said Breed, the team’s leading scorer limited to just two games this season, will be out for an extended period with his knee injury.

The news comes as McNeese (4-4) prepares for Saturday’s game against LaTourneau at 3 p.m. inside the Legacy Center.
“They are not chopped liver,” said Wade. “They are a pretty good team that can play defense and shoot the ball.”

LaTourneau, off to a 6-2 start before playing a conference game Friday night at home, was within two points of Stephen F. Austin with 10 minutes remaining when they met.

“We will have to play hard,” said Wade. “I would like to see us work on our defense and not turn the ball over as much.”

The Cowboys will try to break a two-game losing streak in the process. They are coming off their first home loss under Wade after falling to Santa Clara 74-67 last Monday. It was also the first time McNeese lost back-to-back games under their coach.

McNeese will continue to look for someone to fill Breed’s role. Breed was one of the top, if not the best, all-around players on the roster.

Breed, who sat out last season after transferring from Providence during the year, played in just two games this season. He scored 18 points in the opener against South Dakota State.

He followed that up after missing the home opener against the College of Biblical Studies with a 17-point performance against then-second-ranked Alabama. His 17.5 average is two points more than Sincere Parker for the Cowboys.

The 6-foot-3 Breed is one of four players averaging in double figures and was expected to be a big part of the offense, but has played just 60 minutes so far.

He made 12 of his 23 shots from the floor and 2 of 4 from long range. Breed also had three rebounds a game while being perfect in nine tries from the free-throw line.

Wade said Bryant Selebangue, a 6-8 junior forward from Arizona State, will see more playing time in the future. 

“He does some things nobody else on our team wants to do,” said Wade. “He does those little things we need to do on the court.”

The Cowboys also need to fix their late-game issues. McNeese has had chances to win in three of their four losses, all against other mid-majors, but could not finish down the stretch.

Against Santa Clara, the Cowboys missed five of seven free throws late and outscored 7-0 over the last three minutes. 

“We just don’t know who that guy is to take charge,” said Wade. “We don’t have a feel going into the late game and who is going to be that guy.”

Parker and Javhon Garcia are the most likely candidates in Breed’s absence. 

After Saturday, the Cowboys will play just two games before they open Southland Conference play Dec. 28 at home against New Orleans. They will play Mississippi State a week from Saturday and Louisiana-Lafayette on Dec. 22, both away from home.

“We need to use this time between games to work on ourselves,” said Wade. “We have to be better at closing out games. We have not done a good job in the final six minutes of our games.

“We can’t get away with that against good teams.”