Stephen F. Austin vs McNeese State Prediction 3/3/25 College Basketball Picks Today

The McNeese State Cowboys and the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks meet Monday in college basketball action from William R Johnson Coliseum. Here’s a Stephen F. Austin vs McNeese State Prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Stephen F. Austin vs McNeese State pick.

McNeese State Cowboys Betting Preview

The Cowboys started out the year on a pretty rough run, but they’ve been doing quite well in the record column overall since mid-December. McNeese State opened on a 5-5 stretch with losses to South Dakota State, Alabama, Liberty, Santa Clara, and Mississippi State. Next came wins over Louisiana, New Orleans, SE Louisiana, East Texas A&M, Northwestern State, Nicholls, Houston Christian, Lamar, Stephen F. Austin, UTRGV, and Texas A&M-CC. Following a loss to Nicholls, the Cowboys beat Incarnate Word, Northwestern State, East Texas A&M, New Orleans, SE Louisiana, Texas A&M-CC, and UTRGV in the next seven outings. That gave the Cowboys a 23-6 run through their first 29 games of the season.

In their Saturday game versus Lamar, McNeese State was down by four points 35-31 going into the second half. The Cowboys stormed back from there on a 37-31 run though, eventually taking the comeback win 68-66. Leading the team in scoring was Sincere Parker, who came off the bench for 25 points with four rebounds in 21 minutes of work. Javohn Garcia added 10 points with seven rebounds, four steals, two blocks, and one assist as the only other player on the team to reach double-figures. Christian Shumate chipped in nine points with six rebounds and one block in 23 minutes on the floor as well.

Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks Betting Preview

Over on the Stephen F. Austin side, they’ve had a choppy year so far and have been fighting off the .500 mark most of the way. The Lumberjacks posted a 5-3 run to start the season, then lost to UTRGV, Texas A&M-CC, and Oregon before wins versus Texas Wesleyan and Abilene Christian. A 2-7 run came next with wins over Lamar and East Texas A&M among losses to Incarnate Word, Houston Christian, SE Louisiana, Nicholls, McNeese, Northwestern State, and Lamar. After wins versus New Orleans, Texas A&M-CC, UTRGV, Northwestern State, and East Texas A&M the Lumberjacks lost to Incarnate Word and Houston Christian, giving the team a 14-15 record across the first 29 games of their campaign.

Matched up against Nicholls over the weekend, the Lumberjacks faced a 46-33 halftime deficit. Stephen F. Austin didn’t end up getting any closer on a 48-37 run from there and took the loss in the end 94-70. Leading the team in scoring was Myles Jenkins with 16 points, three rebounds, and one assist. Matt Hayman added 14 points with four assists and two steals.

Why the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks will win

• Stephen F. Austin has won 65 of its last 72 night games against the Southland Conference at William R. Johnson Coliseum.
• Stephen F. Austin has won the first half in 14 of its last 16 night games at William R. Johnson Coliseum.

Why the McNeese State Cowboys will win

• McNeese State has won each of its last 19 night games against the Southland Conference.
• Stephen F. Austin has lost each of its last three games.
• McNeese State has won the first half in 24 of its last 30 games against the Southland Conference.

Stephen F Austin vs McNeese State Prediction

I’m going to stay with McNeese. The Cowboys had a bit of a slow start versus Lamar in their latest win, but everything worked out well in the end. That said, McNeese didn’t shoot very well from 3-point range (3-of-15 for 20 percent) or the line (19-of-32 for 59.4 percent). Still, the Cowboys held Lamar to just 36.1 percent shooting on the other side, which was just enough to steal the win on the road.

These teams last saw each other back on January 20 in a 79-59 home victory for the Cowboys. In that one McNeese State shot quite well (47.4 percent) from the field, and Stephen F. Austin didn’t (34.8 percent). The Cowboys also had a 37-31 rebounding advantage and scored 23 points off 18 Stephen F. Austin turnovers. I’d assume the Lumberjacks won’t make so many ball-control mistakes in the home rematch, but McNeese State should still have the advantage overall as the better team on paper.