The McNeese Cowboys will travel to the American Bank Center to take on the Texas A&M-CC Islanders this Thursday night in College Basketball action.
The McNeese Cowboys won their 2nd straight game and improved to 7-11 on the season after defeating the Houston Baptist Huskies, 78-75, this past Saturday. McNeese was outstanding on the offensive end against Houston Baptist and was able to hold off the Huskies for the victory after taking a 70-63 lead with 3:52 left in regulation. McNeese shot 54.2% from the field & 47.1% from beyond the arc while allowing Houston Baptist to shoot 57.4% from the field & 26.7% from beyond the arc. Leading the way for the Cowboys was Zach Scott who had 24 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, & 1 steal.
On the season, McNeese is averaging 76.9 ppg on 45.0% shooting from the field. The Cowboys are averaging 6.6 three-pointers per game on 31.0% shooting from beyond the arc. Offensively, McNeese has been led by Myles Lewis (11.9 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 1.4 apg, 1.3 spg), Kellon Taylor (10.2 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 2.3 apg), Brendan Medley-Bacon (9.9 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 1.2 apg, 1.4 bpg), & Christian Shumate (9.6 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 1.1 apg, 1.1 bpg).
Defensviely, McNeese is allowing their opponents to average 73.5 ppg on 42.6% shooting from the field. The Cowboys have a rebound margin of 6.4 and are averaging 9.6 steals per game.
The Texas A&M-CC Islanders won their 2nd straight game and improved to 14-4 on the season after defeating the Incarnate Word Cardinals, 80-64, this past Saturday night. Texas A&M-CC was solid on the defensive end against Incarnate World and had no trouble pulling away after taking a 43-24 lead with 18:00 minutes left in regulation. Texas A&M-CC shot 49.1% from the field & 39.1% from beyond the arc while holding Incarnate Word to just 31.5% from the field & 33.3% from beyond the arc. Leading the way for the Islanders was Trevian Tennyson who had 20 points & 1 rebound.
On the season, Texas A&M-CC is averaging 79.7 ppg on 47.0% shooting from the field. The Islanders are averaging 6.9 three-pointers per game on 35.2% shooting from beyond the arc. Offensively, Texas A&M-CC has been led by Isaac Mushila (14.6 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 1.4 apg, 1.1 spg), Trevian Tennyson (12.6 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 1.7 apg), Simeon Fryer (8.2 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 1.1 apg), & Terrion Murdix (7.6 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 4.1 apg, 1.8 spg).
Defensively, Texas A&M-CC is allowing their opponents to average 67.7 ppg on 41.9% shooting from the field. The Islanders have a rebound margin of 3.7 and a turnover margin of 4.9.
The Cowboys are 6-7-1 ATS on the season & just 1-6-1 ATS in their last 8 road games vs. a team with a home winning % of greater than .600. The Islanders are 8-1 ATS in their last 9 games following a straight up win & 7-1 ATS in their last 8 games vs. a team with a losing straight up record.
McNeese has been led by their offense which ranks 70th in scoring offense & 140th in FG%, however, the Cowboys have struggled a bit defensively and currently rank just 283rd in scoring defense. Texas A&M-CC has been solid on both ends of the court as the Islanders rank 26th in scoring offense, 52nd in FG%, 136th in defensive FG%, & 15th in turnover margin.
McNeese has had some success scoring the basketball, but those numbers are a bit inflated due to some easy matchups against non-D1 opponents and when it’s all said and done, the Cowboys are just not a great overall team. Texas A&M-CC already was able to defeat McNeese at a neutral site by a 67-54 margin and as I expect an even better performance from the Islanders at home (7-0 home record), I think the play here is to take Texas A&M-CC to cover this large home spread. Good Luck!