With four games remaining in the college basketball regular season, we still don’t know exactly what type of team the Cowboys are.

On paper, McNeese State looks good.

The Cowboys are 21-6 overall and 15-1 in the Southland Conference. They have lost once at home and own a three-game lead over Lamar, making their magic number for a second consecutive championship two.

There is no reason for panic.

Yet it is hard to tell just what makes this team tick. Watching them, you get the feeling the Cowboys are still searching to find themselves.

“We have a pretty inconsistent team,” said McNeese head coach Will Wade. “I wish we had some consistency. I don’t like it, but it’s how it is.”

Monday night was the perfect example.

In the biggest game of the season, in front of a hostile crowd in Hammond, Southeastern Louisiana provided McNeese the last chance at trouble in the regular season. All the makings of an upset were on hand.

The Lions were tied for second, playing at home, and had posted an 11-2 record over their last 13 games, so they were hot going in. They had also beaten McNeese on the same floor the year before.

Surprisingly, McNeese comes out firing two days after a lackluster second half against hapless New Orleans.

Behind the shooting of D.J. Richards, the Cowboys were rolling 30-13 before the Lions fans knew what hit them.

This is how it was expected to be, as McNeese played solid defense, rebounded, hit its open shots, and was about to go for the knockout punch.

That’s when everything turned.

The Lions started hitting their shots and McNeese’s offense went into hibernation. The Cowboys lost their spacing and soon their lead. By halftime the margin was three and all the momentum was in the hands of the home team.

The second half began as the first ended, and SLU had a seven-point lead with 14 minutes to play. Next thing you know, the Cowboys from the opening minutes returned as Javohn Garcia and Joe Charles led the charge.

The Cowboys locked down SLU and hit nine of their last 14 shots, erasing the Lions’ lead and winning 88-82.

Not only is McNeese a different team from game to game, but sometimes minute to minute.

“We try out nine guys in the first half, so you see who took their happy pills and find out who is ready to play in the second half,” Wade said.

Holding tryouts in the first half might seem odd, but it is working. The Cowboys have used the hot hand to keep on winning. It is, however, not ideal.

“I wish I had seven or eight that were reliable and dependable every night,” Wade said. “I wish I knew what was gonna happen and what we were gonna get, but we just don’t have that.

“We got maybe three here like that. We got five or six total wild cards.”

Wade added that might work out for McNeese.

“There’s some advantage in the sense that if we don’t know who it’s gonna be every night, how can the opponent know? And I like that,” he said.

“My job is not to wish things to be something different but to deal with what we have and to play that hand as best we can.”

So, the Cowboys will continue looking great at times and dysfunctional at others. That is a slippery slope to play on when one wins at the wrong time, which can turn a great season sour.

If McNeese loses in the SLC Tournament, there is no backup plan, it is just a consolation trip to the NIT.

That is precisely what this team is, one that, on any given night, can take you on a wild ride that can end in joy or terror.

In other words: if you are going to be a fan of this team this season, bring your antacid.

•

Jim Gazzolo is a freelance writer who covers McNeese State athletics for the American Press. Email him at jimgazzolo@yahoo.com