The first game of Will Wade being on the sideline for the McNeese Cowboys welcomed Southern Miss into the Legacy Center. DJ Richards had a career-high 25 points to lead the Cowboys over the Golden Eagles in a 67-48 victory to improve the Cowboys to 9-2.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The first game with Will Wade on the sideline was a back-and-forth affair to start, with both the Eagles and Cowboys trading baskets and moving efficiently. At the first media timeout with 14:32 remaining, it was a 10-10 contest with Omar Cooper leading the way for McNeese with eight points.
The Bayou Bandits then ripped off 11 straight points to take a sizable 21-10 lead at the under-12 timeout. DJ Richards hit two big threes in that run and Cooper continued to be the leading scorer with eight. Donovan Ivory had six to lead the Golden Eagles.
McNeese kept rolling through the next sequence, outscoring USM 7-4 to hold a 28-14 lead with 7:36 remaining in the first half. The Cowboys shot 57% from the field in the opening 12 minutes of action.
At the final media timeout of the first half, the lead was still at 13 for the Cowboys as they continued to keep a hold of the contest. The Eagles would score five points over the final two minutes and change, but it was the Cowboys ahead 38-26 at the halftime break. DJ Richards led all scorers with 11 points.
USM cut the lead down to six early in the second half, but back-to-back threes from Richards put McNeese back ahead by 12 with 12:28 left in the contest. The Houston native was up to 17 points at this point in the game.
Richards continued to lead the way for the Cowboys, hitting a big three in front of the McNeese bench to give the Pokes a 57-44 lead with 8:28 to go. For Richards, he had a career-high 22 points through the first 32 minutes of the game.
At the final media timeout of the game, the Cowboys had an 18-point lead over Southern Miss with 3:43 remaining in the game.
McNeese was able to close it out in style with a 67-48 victory over Southern Miss to improve to 9-2 on the season.
BIG NUMBER: 22
McNeese once held a 22-point lead over a Southern Miss squad that was near the top in the Sun Belt Conference in 2022. The Pokes hung around that mark, winning the contest by 19.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: DJ Richards
Richards had a career-high 25 points on 8-14 shooting, including 6-11 from behind the arc.
UP NEXT: McNeese will welcome the Louisiana Ragin Cajuns to the Legacy Center this Sunday in the second leg of the Bob Marlin-Will Wade saga. Tip-off is set for 3:00 p.m.