McNeese vs. Gonzaga in NCAA First Round on Thursday

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The McNeese will take the national stage on Thursday when the 12th-seeded Cowboys begin play in the 2024 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament against No. 5 Gonzaga.

Tip-off is scheduled for 6:25 p.m. CT at the Delta Centers and will broadcast live on TBS. Westwood One will also carry the game live on Sirius channel 211 and XM Radio channel 204.

McNeese (30-3) and Gonzaga (25-7) will be meeting for the first time. The two teams met with the media on Wednesday afternoon prior to an open practice for media and fans.

McNeese is one of just four teams in Division I basketball with 30 or more wins and has caught the attention of Gonzaga head coach Mark Few who is making his 25th straight appearance in the dance.

“Will (Wade) has done an incredible job in building this program up and to get 30 wins and then when you start watching them play, you can see why,” commented Few. “Very, very opportunistic defense. They can turn you over and they like to run like we run and they can really convert turnovers into baskets.

“Their defense is extremely disruptive. It’s not what you see every day.

“Shumate inside, reminds us a lot of a really good player in our league who is really athletic and explosive around the rim and dunks everything.

“We’re prepared for quite a battle.”

Wade will be making his sixth appearance in the NCAA Tournament with his third team.

“We’re excited to be back,” said Wade about the Cowboys who are making their first appearance in March Madness since 2002 and just the third time ever. “We’re excited for the opportunity.”

This is Wade’s second time to bring a team to Salt Lake City for the NCAA Tournament. The first was in his final season at VCU in 2017.

The Cowboys will rely on their intense and smothering defense to have success against the fast-paced Zags’ team.

Led by Shahada Wells (17.8 ppg, 4.8 apg, 3.0 spg), the Cowboys are ranked third in the NCAA in field goal defense (38.5%), steals per game (10.4), turnover margin (6.7), and are fifth in scoring defense (61.5 ppg). Additionally, McNeese leads the nation in scoring margin at 18.9 points, having won 23 of its 30 games by 10 points or more.

Shumate adds 11.9 points and 9.5 rebounds while Javohn Garcia and DJ Richards Jr. each score 11.4 per game.

McNeese has won 11 straight games and 25 of its last 26 heading into Thursday.

Gonzaga fell to Saint Mary’s in the West Coast Conference tournament championship game, snapping a nine-game winning streak.

Like the Cowboys, the Bulldogs have four players scoring in double-figures for the season, led by 6-9 forward Graham Ike’s 16.7 average to go along with 7.2 rebounds per game. Gonzaga starts three players that stand 6-8 or taller.

Forward Anton Watson (6-8) is averaging 14.3 points and 7.1 rebounds per game; guard Nolan Hickman is at 14.2 ppg while guard Ryan Nembhard is scoring at a 12.9 clip.

The winner of the game will take on the winner of the Kansas/Samford game on Saturday in the second round.