The Southland Conference runs through Lake Charles, LA. That is the location of the conference tournament, but it is also the home of McNeese State University, which has dominated the Southland over the last three seasons. McNeese started this run with Will Wade at the helm, but never fear, Cowboys fans, because new head coach Bill Armstrong, who was the right-hand man for Wade, just did it again. The McNeese Cowboys have won the Southland Conference tournament again.
The Cowboys have made it back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Tournament. Last season, McNeese pulled the first-round upset over Clemson in the 2025 Tournament. This year, the Cowboys are hoping to go a little deeper into the NCAA Tournament and may have a team capable of doing so. McNeese is making its fifth overall appearance in the NCAA Tournament and will likely be on the 12-seed line, which means some poor 5-seed is going to have to navigate a lot to beat McNeese.
Muck it Up
The Cowboys are hard to play against because they arguably have the best on-ball defense of any team in the NCAA Tournament, and the defense never lets up. McNeese will force the offense to grind for the entire 40 minutes and frustrate them into taking lazy shots and turning the ball over.
The Cowboys force 17 turnovers per game, which is the second-best number in the country, because of that and their aggressiveness on the defensive end, opponents have not taken many shots. McNeese allows 53 shots on the defensive end, and over 50% of those shots are from three. The threes are not usually quality shots; they tend to be rushed at the end of shot clocks, when McNeese wants you to take the shots.
Getting the ball into the paint is nearly impossible. The Cowboys thrive on deflections and block a ton of shots. All of that is meant to frustrate opponents over the full 40 minutes. That can result in frustration turnovers, usually live-ball turnovers, which, of course, lead to easy transition baskets and, in turn, cause separation from the opponent. McNeese thrives on the chaos, and very few opponents have been able to handle the pressure. If the Cowboys' opponents struggle to hold onto the ball, there is a 20-0 run in McNeese’s future.
Guards
Over the last two seasons, the Cowboys were always known as a defense-first team, and the offense was good enough to win games but wasn’t flashy. The defense-first label remains an accurate description of the McNeese Cowboys, as they rely on their defense to set up everything. The difference this year is that the offense is more than just good enough.
Head coach Bill Armstrong has done a fantastic job acquiring athletic guards who can score from all over the floor and run the floor with just about everyone. McNeese played extremely slow on both sides of the ball in recent years, but this year, the guards Larry Johnson, Tyshawn Archie, Javohn Garcia, DJ Richards, and Garwel Dual allow McNeese to play at one of the faster paces in the tournament on offense.
Johnson leads the team in scoring and was the Freshman of the Year in the Southland. He is an explosive athlete who can dominate a game. Johnson, a transfer from Creighton, isn’t a good shooter but doesn’t need to be. He can get to the rim against anyone and has a nice pull-up game. Adding his ability to get to the rim, along with the tremendous three-point shooting of Archie, Garcia, and Richards, and Dual’s ability to pass, makes the Cowboys very dangerous.
Overall Depth
It’s supposed to be the time of year when the rotation shortens, and the best 8 guys or so play. That is why it is harder to win games this time of year, as players get bruised and tired, and their legs go away. In the rare instance that you get a team that plays as McNeese does, which plays run and gun on offense and plays physical, aggressive defense, you need a larger rotation.
The Cowboys play 10 guys at least 15 minutes a night. They can make sure that all of their legs are always fresh on the defensive end. This has been mentioned now and likely mentioned all week, even though McNeese has a better offense, the defense is what the program prides itself on. Offense has never won championships.
Where am I going with this? The offense may take a step back when the bench comes in, but the defense doesn’t, and it will always be a chore to score on the Cowboys, and that is just how coach Armstrong has designed it. McNeese beat a heavy three-point offense last year in Clemson. They are no longer going to sneak up on anyone, and I can promise they are not a team you want to see next to your name in the brackets. They can make a second weekend.