Cowboys roll into UNO
Published 10:03 am Friday, February 27, 2026
Winners of six straight and 10 of their last 11, the Cowboys enter the final weekend of the regular season with still a chance at a title.
McNeese State heads to New Orleans Saturday with a 24-5 record overall and 17-3 in the Southland Conference, one game behind league-leading Stephen F. Austin. The Cowboys are in search of their third straight regular-season championship.
While they may have wrapped one of the two double-byes in the SLC tournament, their opponents each have a lot to play for. The game is set for 5 p.m. and streaming on ESPN+.
UNO (14-15, 12-8) is tied for third with two games remaining. The Privateers have won three straight and seven of nine, including a win over SFA last Monday.
“They are playing their best basketball right now and have a lot to play for,” said McNeese head coach Bill Armstrong. “We can’t worry about what anybody else is doing.”
That means the Cowboys look to win Saturday and against Monday night at Nicholls on national television, and figure out where they stand after that. The Colonels also have a chance to finish in the three seed with two wins this weekend, meaning both these games will be played all out against McNeese.
“We just have to do our part and see what happens,” said Armstrong. “We will be watching SFA for sure, but we have to control what we can control.”
Nicholls (12-17, 11-9) is tied for fifth. While the top two teams get double byes, seeds three and four get one.
McNeese will likely be without Javohn Garcia on Saturday. The three-year starter is listed day to day with a leg injury.
“They want to play for him,” Armstrong said. “This is still his team from a leadership point.”
The Cowboys won the first meeting in Lake Charles, beating UNO 82-63 on Jan. 24.
Larry Johnson, who leads McNeese in scoring at 16.9 points a game, had 26 in the first game, the most for him against a Division I team. Johnson had 20 points last Monday against Texas-Rio Grande Valley.
Coleton Benson is right behind Johnson at 16.3 and had 23 for UNO against McNeese, going 5-for-9 on 2-pointers.
“We have to know where he is at,” Armstrong said of Benson. “He’s a great player, and we need to make it about volumes, making him take a lot of shots to score.”
The Cowboys also want to keep building momentum into the postseason.
“We are playing as good as we have played all year,” said Armstrong. “That’s what you want to be doing at this time.”
