Johnson sets freshman record
Published 10:41 pm Monday, March 2, 2026
Cowboys win, but have to settle for second place
Larry Johnson etched his name into the McNeese record books, but the Cowboys could not get enough help to win their third straight Southland Conference title.
Johnson scored 25 points to break the McNeese scoring record for a freshman set by Hall of Famer Joe Dumars in 1982, as the Cowboys beat Nicholls 75-65 Monday night in Thibodeaux.
Dumars finished with 527 points as a freshman. Johnson has 532 after Monday, which was the third time in his last four games that he has scored at least 20 points.
“I have seen some highlights of Joe Dumars and heard what Michael Jordan has said about it, so it is an honor,” said Johnson. “We wanted to come in here and finish the regular season strong.”
The Cowboys have done that, winning eight straight and 12 of their last 13 heading into the postseason.
However, their hopes of a three-peat when it comes to SLC regular-season championships came to an end when Stephen F. Austin beat Incarnate Word 76-68.
McNeese’s record improves to 26-5 overall and 19-3 in the Southland, one game behind the Lumberjacks. The Cowboys will head into the SLC Tournament as the No. 2 seed, getting a double bye along with SFA.
“Another hard-fought win,” said McNeese head coach Bill Armstrong. “A great overall effort by the players and the staff.”
Johnson was 7-for-14 from the field and hit 11 of 13 free throws while also pulling down a team-high six rebounds. He also had three steals for good measure.
Great overall effort by the players and the staff.
“I’m just trying to create something for my teammates,” said Johnson. “Trying to create something to happen.”
Tyshawn Archie added 18 points with six steals and five assists to help Johnson. DJ Richards came off the bench to hit three 3-pointers and score 10 points.
Richards helped the Cowboys take a 40-31 halftime lead with seven consecutive points late in the half, before Nicholls made a run that would eventually cut the lead to just two.
“Those were big shots by DJ to give us some breathing room,” said Armstrong.
The Cowboys actually went up by 15 points (48-33) on Yanis Ndjonga’s layup with 15:38 remaining. That’s when the Colonels started pecking away.
A 3-pointer by former Cowboy Trae English was followed by two Sincere Malone free throws with 8:42 left, cutting the McNeese lead to 57-55.
“We went back to who we are at that point,” said Armstrong.
That meant defense. The Cowboys made the big defensive stops, and Johnson hit some big free throws, to put down the Nicholls uprising.
Garvey Dual finally put the game away for good with a dunk with 1:18 left to put McNeese up 70-61.
English led the Colonels with 20 points, as Nicholls finished the regular season 13-20, 12-10.
