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McNeese (7-2) at Rhode Island (7-3)
Tuesday, December 9, 2025
Kingston, Rhode Island
6 p.m. CT • ESPN+
Watch: ESPN+ (LINK)
Live Stats: (LINK)
KINGSTON, Rhode Island – Nine months ago, history was made for the McNeese basketball team when it defeated Clemson in the first round of the NCAA Tournament for the program’s first-ever March Madness win.
On Tuesday night, the Cowboys return to The Ocean State where they will go up against the Rhode Island Rams, their second Atlantic 10 Conference opponent of the season.
Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT at URI’s Thomas M. Ryan Center. The game will broadcast live on ESPN+.
McNeese (7-2) is coming off a dominating 92-54 win over Northwestern State last Friday night in a game where the Cowboys completely overwhelmed and dominated the Demons in all phases of the game.
Rhode Island (7-3) dropped a 90-71 decision up the road from here to Providence and seeing its three-game winning streak snapped.
Head coach Bill Armstrong stated earlier on Monday he will roll out the same starting five players he began with against NSU, which were four new starters along with Javohn Garcia. Joining Garcia, who has a 13.0 scoring average and is second on the team, will be scoring leader Larry Johnson (16.4 ppg), Garwey Dual (10.1 ppg), Carl Cherenfant (6.8 ppg, 4.4 rpg), and Peitok Machar (6.0 ppg, 5.1 rpg).
RETURN TO THE OCEAN STATE
• McNeese’s last visit to the state of Rhode Island was a historical one. The Cowboys played in the Providence bracket of last year’s NCAA Tournament, beating Clemson 69-67 to claim the program’s first-ever NCAA Tournament win. That victory over the No. 5 seed and 12th-ranked Tigers was the first-ever win over a nationally ranked team. McNeese became known as “America’s Team” following that win due to the team’s outgoing and bubbly personality along with then-head coach Will Wade’s personality and of course, social media manager sensation, Amir “Aura” Khan. McNeese lost in the second round to No. 4-seed Purdue 76-62.
SERIES vs. RHODE ISLAND
• Tuesday’s game will be the second meeting in the all-time series with the Rams leading 1-0.
• The two teams first played on Nov. 26, 2013 with Rhode Island winning 76-71 in the home contest which was part of the 2013 NIT Season TipOff.
• The Rams will not be returning a trip to Lake Charles as part of the contract.
ABOUT RHODE ISLAND
• The Rams are a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference and last won the A10 regular season championship in 2018 and played in the NCAA Tournament.
• The Rams are coached by Archie Miller who is in his fourth season leading Rhode Island. Prior to URI, Miller was the head coach for the Indiana Hoosiers from 2017-21, and before that, the head coach at Dayton from 2011-17.
• The Rams lost all five starters from last year’s team that posted an 18-13 record.
• Rhode Island is 4-0 at home this season and has won 13 straight non-conference home games dating back to the 2023-24 season.
McNEESE IN THE RANKINGS
• McNeese is currently ranked No. 53 in the NCAA NET, 54 in the BPI, and 77 in the KenPom rankings.
• In the mid-major rankings, the Cowboys are 16th in the Mid-Major Power 25, No. 20 in CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25, tied for 21st in the Mid-Major Madness, and 8th in the T3 Bracketology One-Bid League Top 32.
WINNING DNA
• Since the start of the 2023-24 season, McNeese has compiled a 65-13 overall record, including a 37-3 Southland Conference record over the last three seasons.
• McNeese has won 17 straight home games dating back to last season with the last loss coming against Santa Clara last December.
• 55-1 record when leading at the half over the last three years, 6-0 this season.
SUCCESS WHEN SCORING 80+
• McNeese is 33-0 since the start of the 2023-24 season when scoring 80 points or more.
• The Cowboys have scored 80 or more in five games this season.
TAKEAWAY TRAIN
• McNeese leads the Southland Conference and is ranked in the top five in the NCAA in turnovers forced per game and turnover margin.
• The Cowboys are forcing 18.7 turnovers a game, ranking 5th in the NCAA while their 8.8 turnover margin rate is ranked No. 2 in the nation.
• McNeese is averaging 11.4 steals per game, No. 1 in the league and 4th in the NCAA.
• Four times McNeese has forced its opponents into 20 or more turnovers in a game and every opponent has turned it over at least 10 times.
• Individually, Garwey Dual and Javohn Garcia are tied atop the conference with 18 steals each and a 2.0 per game average.
• Tyshawn Archie is 6th with 15 total steals and 7th with a 1.7 average.
BAYOU BANDIT KILL SHOTS
• McNeese has recorded 15 kill shots on the season (scoring runs of 10 or more).
• Those have been scattered among five of the nine games played.
• Three kill shots have gone for 20 points or more with the longest being a 29-0 run against College of Biblical Studies in the third game of the season.
• McNeese recorded four kills shots, including a 24-0 run, against Northwestern State in its last outing.
