McNeese looks to rebound at home
Published 9:27 am Tuesday, November 18, 2014
The one certainty about McNeese State’s men’s basketball home opener is that it will look prettier than the season opener.
The Cowboys (0-1) host Division III Louisiana College tonight, and are happy to be at Burton Coliseum after taking a 80-39 shellacking at Baylor to start the season.
McNeese only played one nonconference home game last season.
The stats from Friday night are unpleasant in several areas, but none more so than shooting.
The Cowboys were 21 percent (13 of 62) from the field.
“The kids played hard, but the bottom line is if you don’t shoot well you’re going to struggle,” said coach Dave Simmons. “The biggest thing right now is we’ve got to make shots.”
Simmons announced senior power forward Craig McFerrin will undergo shoulder surgery and miss the year.
That leaves three seniors in the lineup — Desharick Guidry, Kevin Hardy and Keelan Garrett.
Guidry was the only one to avoid a totally dreadful night at Baylor with a team-high 11 points and six rebounds, but was 5 of 16 from the field. Garrett and Hardy were a combined 1 of 18 shooting, with Garrett getting the one.
“Obviously they didn’t play well,” Simmons said. “And we’ve got to have those guys play well.”
Hardy missed the entire week leading up to the game with a groin injury.
“Kevin is a warrior. He’s not looking for any sympathy,” Simmons said. “Did missing practice affect him? I don’t know. But he missed some shots Kevin normally does not miss.
“If I ask Kevin, he’ll say ‘I’m 100 percent. I can go.’ Is he? I go on what he tells me. But I think he’s savvy enough to still produce even if he’s injured. I just think he had a bad game.”
The Cowboys will hope to get something out of McFerrin’s replacement in the starting lineup, Austin Lewis.
Literally, anything.
Lewis did not get a shot or a rebound in 17 minutes against the Bears, with only two personal fouls providing an iota of evidence he was ever on the floor.
“He was battling a zone, so they’ve got it packed that you can’t get it in there as much as you’d want,” Simmons said. “Obviously, on the defensive end there was enough misses for him to get some rebounds. He just didn’t get into the flow of the game.
“But (without McFerrin) I’ve got to get results out of Austin Lewis, Matt Moss and Jordan Wells.”
