McNeese Basketball Set To Begin First Conference Road Trip of Season

McNeese State has picked up right where it left off last season in the Southland Conference as they are off to a 2-0 start in conference play. But they always say, you don't fully know your team until they hit the road in conference play, and the Pokes are looking at their first road trip of the new year.

McNeese has begun their Southland Conference slate with wins against New Orleans and Southeastern. The Cowboys are now 8-5 overall heading into their first road trip of 2025.

McNeese has had to battle the injury bug quite a bit over the last few weeks with Omar Cooper dealing with an appendix injury, Brandon Murray with a knee injury that he has been dealing with since the ULL game, and Sincere Parker has been out with an illness. No timetable is known for an Alyn Breed return, Breed has been battling a knee injury for the entire season.

DJ Richards and Quadir Copeland have both stepped up in big roles in the absence of the few Cowboys. Richards has been on fire, hitting 10 three-pointers in two conference games and averaging 15 points. Copeland has taken over as point guard and is doing a great job, averaging 11 points and nine assists per game.

On Saturday, before the game against New Orleans, Will Wade announced that T'Johnn Brown would remove his redshirt and would be a key piece for McNeese the rest of the way. "This isn't a cute story, he can help us in a big way," said Wade.

The Cowboy who has stepped up the most has been Javohn Garcia. Garcia has been able to play off the ball a bit more which has allowed him to average 23 points through two Southland Conference Games, including a career-high 26 points on Monday against Southeastern.

McNeese will begin their first road trip of the conference season, taking on East Texas A&M Commerce on Saturday before facing Northwestern State on Monday to round out the weekend. E-TA&M is struggling this season with a 2-11 record (0-2 in conference), while Northwestern State sits at 5-7 (2-0 in conference).

Here is a look at the Southland Conference Standings heading into Saturday.