Remember the time McNeese State basketball was rated higher than Kentucky?
Take a picture. That time is right now.
The Cowboys’ five-game winning streak,
which includes victories over Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana Tech and
Texas Tech, has
earned McNeese the respect of the college basketball
number-crunching machine. McNeese is ranked 49th nationally in the CBS
Sports Ratings Percentage Index this week, while the defending
national champion Wildcats are down at 66th.
No one’s confusing Dave Simmons for John Calipari just yet — especially not their respective personal accountants — but as
the numbers prove, Sunday’s 80-75 triumph over the Red Raiders finally gives Simmons the signature win he’s been searching
for the last seven seasons.
McNeese has come close on many occasions.
The Cowboys fell to LSU in overtime in
2010, and two weeks later led Texas A&M most of the way before a
slew of late free
throws allowed the Aggies to pull away. In 2009, McNeese had Texas
Tech on the ropes before falling 76-75. In 2008, LSU eeked
out a 62-59 win over the Cowboys.
The opportunities have been there, but on Sunday one was finally seized as McNeese beat a major conference opponent for the
first time since downing Ole Miss in the 1994-95 season.
“It’s very difficult when you go into
an environment like that,” Simmons said. “You just look at the
facilities and everything
compared to where you play. But the thing about it is, last time
we felt we left some business undone out there (in Lubbock).
We talked about that in our pregame speeches. It was a good
feeling for the coaching staff because we’ve been close, but we
didn’t finish the job.”
The Cowboys are proving themselves to be a far different team than the one that was blown out in a dreadful 73-48 loss at
LSU on Nov. 13.
Heck, McNeese is even a different team than it was a week ago thanks to the additions of Craig McFerrin and Ledrick Eackles.
McFerrin was named the Southland Conference and Louisiana Sports Writers Association player of the week for his efforts in
his first two games this year. He made his first 5 shots on the way to 14 points against Louisiana Tech, then led McNeese
with 18 points and 6 rebounds against Texas Tech.
The Cowboys also would not have beaten the Red Raiders without the contributions of Eackles, who came off the bench for 13
second-half points, including three 3-pointers.
“No question we wouldn’t be able to win these (last) two games without those two making a contribution as they did,” Simmons
said.
Early in the year, McNeese seemed to struggle with figuring out who its leader is without the defending Southland player of
the year, Patrick Richard, in the lineup.
However, the Cowboys are now building
on their new plural identity. Instead of deferring to a single star like
Richard to
win the game, multiple players are learning they can also get the
job done. That’s how McNeese managed to make a run to take
the lead at Texas Tech midway through the second half even though
its newest budding star, sophomore forward Desharick Guidry,
was on the bench with foul trouble.
“We learned that we’ve got some other guys we can rely on as far as depth,” Simmons said. “When you’ve got four and five guys
in double figures, you’ve got a great opportunity. A team can’t key on one person. One of those four guys can hit the big
shot, make the big play. That’s a comfort zone. If we can get five guys in double figures, that puts us in an advantageous
spot to win a basketball game.”
Simmons must turn around after his signature win with the sternest test he has ever faced — Saturday’s game at No. 23 North
Carolina, a place where the banners of legends past can swallow a lesser opponent before the Tar Heels do.
“We’ve got a huge mountain ahead of
us,” Simmons said. “We know that. We live in reality. We’re playing one
of the most historic
programs in the nation. But we’ve got confidence. Can we meet the
challenge? We accepted it, so we expect to try to meet that
challenge. But it’s a huge task for a very young basketball team.”