If this was truly the Cowboys’ first big test of the league season, then it’s going to be an easy semester.

McNeese used the long ball and two devastating runs to destroy Northwestern State Monday night in Natchitoches. 

In a battle of two undefeated teams early in Southland Conference play, the Cowboys turned things into a mismatch, thumping the Demons 92-69. They remain tied atop the league with Lamar, which beat Incarnate Word Monday.

“Northwestern State is a very good team; we just shot the ball well,” said McNeese head coach Will Wade. “This was just our night.”

McNeese hit a season-high 16 three-pointers, with junior sharpshooter DJ Richards leading the way. Richards finished with a game-high 20 points, 19 coming in the first half when he made all six of his shots from long range.

“DJ got us off to a fast start,” said Wade. “He can do that.”

The victory was the 15th straight for McNeese in SLC play and 23rd in their last 24 league games. It was their fifth straight victory overall as well.

The Cowboys improved to 4-0 in the Southland and 10-5 overall. The Demons fell to 6-8, 3-1.

After finding themselves down for the first time in Southland play 15-14, the Cowboys rattled off the next 15 points behind Richards. His four-point play with 6:54 left in the opening half ended the run and gave McNeese a 31-15 lead. 

It gave Richards 16 points in just over 13 minutes. His final 3-pointer of the night put McNeese up 43-32 at the half.

Richards was one of six Cowboys in double figures with Sincere Parker coming off the bench for 18 points on 4 of 6 shooting from long range. Parker scored 15 of his points in the second half.

Quadir Copeland finished with his third double-double for McNeese and second in four games, with 13 points and 11 assists. The Syracuse transfer also had five rebounds.

“He has really grown through the year,” Wade said of Copeland. “He has gotten better and our guys like playing with him because they know if they get open, he will pass them the ball.”

Christian Shumate tossed in 15 and pulled down six boards, including a couple of Shuslams, while Joe Charles and Javohn Garcia each added 12. 

The Cowboys also went on a 15-0 run in the first half and topped that with a 20-0 spurt in the second. 

After the Demons scored the first two points after intermission, McNeese went on a 20-0 run to put the game away. The Cowboys used their defense to force NWSU into missing their first nine shots of the half and five turnovers.

“Our defensive pressure to start the second half was impressive,” said Wade. “We got our hands on a lot of passes and made things tough for them.”

Shumate’s back-to-back dunks with 10:51 remaining gave the Cowboys their biggest lead of the night at 65-34. From there, it was just a matter of finishing up the game, as the Demons got hot with some threes of their own to make the score look better.

Micah Thomas, the transfer from Nicholls, led the Demons with 14 points.

McNeese has won all four of its conference games by no less than 19 points and an average of 23.8. 

The Cowboys finished the night 16 of 28 (57 percent) on three points while making 15 two-pointers.

“We are a good shooting team; we just haven’t made them,” said Wade. “Tonight we got good looks.”

The Cowboys went 2-0 on the road trip after winning at East Texas A&M Saturday. 

“This was a tough road trip for us last year,” said Wade. “Our guys were much more prepared and much more focused this time.”

The Cowboys will return home this Saturday for a 4 p.m. game against Nicholls (9-6, 3-1) inside the Legacy Center.