Cowboys win fourth straight with 65-52 win at UNO

NEW ORLEANS – Sha’markus Kennedy scored 21 points and pulled down 14 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season and McNeese ran off a 22-7 run in the final 7:28 to defeat Southland Conference preseason favorite New Orleans, 65-52 here Saturday night.

It was the fourth straight win for the Cowboys as they improve to 4-3 in Southland Conference play while evening their record to 9-9 overall. The win snaps a six-game losing streak to UNO and is the first win at New Orleans since the 2014 season.

McNeese trailed 45-43 at the under-8 media timeout when head coach Heath Schroyer made the decision to switch to a zone defense which resulted in the swing of momentum.

“We had a timeout at the 8-minute mark. I could feel the momentum start to slip a little bit and we started to get frustrated,” said Schroyer. “New Orleans is a really good team and they do that to people. I challenged our guys to stay together. We switched defenses and we went to a 1-3-1 and I think that turned the game. We were able to get a couple of easy baskets”

The Cowboys came out of the timeout and saw Trey Johnson hit 1 of 2 free throws to start what would turn into a 17-0 run over the next 4:36 and building a 60-45 lead after Dru Kuxhausen’s sixth three-pointer of the night.

During that run, McNeese connected on 6 of its 9 shots taken, 3 for 5 from three-point range and two free throws. In return, the Privateers where held to 0-5 shooting and turned the ball over twice in that span.

“When went to the zone, we kind of got them on their heels a little bit,” said Schroyer. “They were really abusing us in the paint. So we went to the zone and got them to get on their heels a little bit and make them take some tough shots.”

UNO snapped the run on a Jaylen Key layup to cut the margin to 60-47 with 2:55 to play, but Roydell Brown put the proverbial ‘nail in the coffin’ with a three-pointer on the ensuing possession to give McNeese a 16-point advantage with 2:26 to play.

With under a minute to play, Kennedy put a stamp on the win with his fourth dunk of the game to get him to 21 points, his seventh 20-point game of the season.

“This is a really big win for this program,” said Schroyer. “We’ll enjoy this tonight but get back to work for next week.”

Kuxhausen added 18 points while Brown pulled in 10 rebounds to go along with eight points. Lawson scored all nine of his points with under 14 minutes to play in the game.

As a team, the Cowboys shot 49 percent from the field (27-55), 42 percent from long range (8-19) and 43 percent at the free throw line (3-7). McNeese held a 36-32 advantage in rebounds.

UNO was led in scoring by Bryson Robinson’s 27 points as Key added 16.

The Privateers shot 37 percent for the game (22-60), 19 percent from 3-point range (4-21) and 80 percent at the line (4-5).

McNeese took a 30-21 lead into the half after hitting six of its last seven baskets (2 for 3 from three-point range) and putting together a 15-4 run in the final 5:14 of the frame.

The Cowboys trailed 9-2 early but strung together seven straight points to tie the game at 9-9 following Kennedy’s second of three first half dunks.

A 6-0 run was capped off with a Myles Hutchinson layup that gave the Cowboys a 15-13 lead, their first of the game, at the 9:10 mark. The lead switched hands a couple of times until a Kuxhausen 3 lifted McNeese on top at 18-17 with 5:05 to play. His third trey of the half came 1:28 later to increase the lead to 24-17 then a Leondre Washington floating layup at the buzzer sent McNeese into the break with a 30-21 lead.

The Cowboys will return to action on Wednesday when they visit Southeastern Louisiana before returning home next Saturday against Nicholls.

POSTGAME NOTES:
• Kuxhausen’s 6 three-pointers gives him 78 on the season ties him for 9th on the McNeese single-season record list.
• McNeese held the Privateers scoreless eight straight possessions in the first half from the 12:06 mark to the 6:00 and then held UNO scoreless for seven straight possessions during its 17-0 second half run.
• Sha’markus Kennedy’s first three made field goals were dunks.
• A.J. Lawson didn’t score his first points of the game until the 13:48 mark of the second half. He finished with nine points.
• McNeese is now 4-0 with the starting lineup of Hutchinson, Lawson, Kuxhausen, Brown and Kennedy.
• The Cowboys have now won 2 straight on the road after starting out the season 0-7 away from home.