The Cowboys will take on a ranked team from the SEC for the second time this season.

Saturday, McNeese State will travel to Tupelo, MS., for a neutral-site battle with No. 25 Mississippi State. The Cowboys lost earlier this year to then No. 2 Alabama, 72-64. 

This meeting will be in Cadence Bank Arena, part of a doubleheader called Magnolia Madness. The game will start at 5 p.m. and broadcast on ESPNU.

“They are a great team,” said McNeese head coach Will Wade. “They are ranked in the top 25 for a reason.”

The Bulldogs (8-1) also respect McNeese (5-4).

“They are a well-coached basketball team,” said Mississippi State head coach Chris Jans. “They’ve got a lot of medium-sized, good-looking athletes. They’re very physical, and they play really, really hard.”

The Cowboys, however, know they have their work cut out for themselves. 

“Mississippi State is a totally different team (from Alabama),” Wade said. “They are going to try and bludgeon us on the glass. They will play volleyball off the backboard until they score.

“We are going to have to really work hard to box them out and limit their offensive rebounds.”

The game all but ends the Cowboys’ demanding early schedule. They will have one more game before they open Southland Conference play on Dec. 28 against New Orleans. 

Their only game between Mississippi State and the league is a road contest against struggling Louisiana-Lafayette Sunday, Dec. 22.

“We knew it was going to be a tough schedule, but we think it will pay off in March,” said Wade. 

The Bulldogs have noticed that schedule. 

“They played good competition,” said Jans. “They’ve played really good other programs. So they’ve been there, done that already in the still early stage of the season.”

McNeese is 0-33 all-time against ranked teams but has beaten the Bulldogs twice in nine tries. 

If the Cowboys are to pull off the upset, they will have to slow down sophomore guard Josh Hubbard. Hubbard leads the Bulldogs in scoring 19 points a game and is hitting 43 percent of his 3-point shots.

“Prey” was Wade’s answer when asked how he would try to defend Wade. “He is a very tough cover. He is one of the best players in the country, and he scores against the best every night.”

The Bulldogs are also big. They will put a lot of stress on the McNeese front line.

The Cowboys will counter with a balanced scoring attack led by Sincere Parker, who comes off the bench and averages 15.6 points per game. Christian Shumate is also continuing to find his game.

The senior forward is coming off his best game when he scored 22 points and hit 4 of 5 of his 3-point tries against LeTourneau. Quadir Copeland also had a big night with 20 points, 11 assists, and nine rebounds. 

Improving Bryant Selebangue had 14 points while getting his most extended minutes of the season.

“I do think we are making progress,” said Wade. “We aren’t there yet.”

The Cowboys hope that a strong performance against Mississippi State will bring them one step closer to their goal.