{{tncms-inline content=”<p><span>McNeese at Northwestern St., 3 p.m.</span></p>” id=”30f2f8c6-e963-456d-89cc-6cbdd8ea6c98″ style-type=”fact” title=”SATURDAY” type=”relcontent”}}

With one change the McNeese State men’s basketball team seems to be on the upswing as Southland Conference play starts.

The Cowboys have gone smaller, inserting senior graduate transfer Trey Touchet into the starting lineup and taking out fellow grad transfer Malik Hines. The result was felt right away as the Cowboys have hit 18 of 41 3-point shots in its last two games, both wins. The 18 made 3s is the most made by McNeese in a two-game span this season.

In the Cowboys’ 88-77 win over Incarnate Word in the SLC opener for both teams on Wednesday, McNeese hit a season-high 10 3-pointers and had its second-best 3-point percentage of the season (52.6 percent).

Head coach Heath Schroyer attributes the better shooting to putting another guard on the floor, which he said has helped spread the floor out a bit more.

“I think Trey really does a good job of connecting us on the floor, both offensively and defensively,” Schroyer said. “He has a very high basketball IQ. It’s a simple thing but he does it really well, he communicates. He’s a steady influence, I believe. And he’s another guy who can step out there and make a shot, and that always helps as well.”

Touchet has averaged eight points in his last two games on 60 percent shooting from the field (6 of 10) and 57.1 percent from 3-point range (4 of 7). He’s also averaged 6.5 assists and 1.5 turnovers in the last two games.

Touchet’s also had a positive effect on keeping the ball in McNeese’s possession. The Cowboys’ 16 turnovers against UIW was the fewest they had committed since having 16 in the home win over North Carolina Central on Dec. 13.

“I think it’s allowed our ball movement to be a little bit better,” Touchet said when asked how he’s impacted the team being in the starting lineup. “Just adding an extra ball-handler and spacing the floor too. It’s just allowing guys to have space and go to work.”

With Touchet getting more playing time, the biggest question has been about Hines, who went from starting 11 out of th first 12 games to not starting the last two. His minutes in the last two games have been limited, playing 21 combined minutes over that stretch.

When Schroyer was asked about Hines’ lack of playing time after the win over Campbellsville-Harrodsburg, he responded by saying, “Coach’s decision,” and when he spoke about Hines before Thursday’s practice, Schroyer made mention to how good Hines has been in whatever role he’s given. Schroyer has made no mention of Hines not playing due to injury or disciplinary reasons.

“Malik has been an unbelievable teammate,” Schroyer said of Hines. “And he’s been really good for us in any role we give him.”

The better play from the guards as of late has lifted the play of big man Sha’markus Kennedy and Roydell Brown, who despite being listed as a guard on the roster, has been used as more of a small forward. In the last two games, Kennedy has averaged 25 points, 10 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game; Brown has averaged 23.5 points, 14 rebounds, four assists, and 1.5 steals per game.

The Cowboys don’t have much time to celebrate their first road win of the season. They’re back on the road Saturday to take on Northwestern State (5-9, 0-1). McNeese (4-9) is looking to start SLC play 2-0 for a third consecutive season.

The team knows that it has to have a mix of staying consistently solid yet improving in every game if it’s going to compete in the SLC.

“It’s the biggest thing for me, and we’ve talked about it as coaches right afterwards, is how do we handle success,” Schroyer said. “As you build this program and have expectations for this program, how do we handle success as a team? Every league game is hard, no matter what league you’re in in the country — this time of year — games, they’re hard to win. We’ve just got to put ourselves in the right position and control the things that we can. And if we do, then hopefully we come out on top.”

McNeese at Northwestern St., 3 p.m.