Raymond Partsch III, Special to the American Press

Heath Schroyer announced a revamped schedule on Tuesday afternoon — by early Friday morning it had changed yet again.

The McNeese State men’s basketball team was set to play three games in four days by hosting Carver Bible College today, Youngstown State on Sunday and then Arlington Baptist on Tuesday.

Youngstown State, though, backed out of the game which caused the schedule to be reshuffled. McNeese will still welcome Carver today but and will again — as originally scheduled — host Arlington Baptist Monday and Tuesday nights. All three games will tip at 6:30 p.m. at Burton Coliseum.

“I said along that scheduling would be a fluid situation, it is a fluid situation,” said Schroyer, head coach and newly appointed athletic director. “It’s almost like a goat rodeo. You don’t know what’s happening one day to the next.”

The constant changes to the schedule, combined with the lack of a traditional fall camp due to Hurricanes Laura and Delta, has made getting into a routine challenging for McNeese.

“It is really hard to get a rhythm,” Schroyer said. “I really worry about that with this team. We haven’t had the amount (of time) on the floor like other teams in the country. For us to try to get a rhythm is really important.”

The last time McNeese (1-2) was on the floor was Dec. 4, when the Cowboys played at Stephen F. Austin in Nacogdoches, Texas. The Lumberjacks won 86-76, but Schroyer said there were plenty of positives to take away from the nonconference game against a fellow Southland Conference school.

“Our team was very disappointed after Stephen F. Austin, which is a good thing,” Schroyer said. “I think we had our chances. We played really well in the first half. I think we ran out of gas, turned over too much to win on the road.

“I think we learned a lot about our team,” he added. “I think some guys really stepped up.”

Schroyer also said playing a quality opponent like the Lumberjacks — who won 28 games and the SLC regular-season title last year — shines a light on the aspects of the team that needs improvement.

“It takes games like that to really learn about yourself,” Schroyer said. “Playing a team like Stephen F. Austin, they are going to expose a lot of things, and they did. I would rather have that happen in December than in January.”

Despite having the schedule constantly in flux due to COVID-19, Schroyer said McNeese is focusing on improvement with playing more scrimmages than normal. He said he believes that he is seeing steady improvement.

“I think this team is getting better at a very nice pace,” Schroyer said. “I still believe as the year goes on that we will play our best basketball as the season progresses. At least that’s my hope.”MSU’s Carlos Rosario is fouled by Dallas Christian’s Moses Compton during his layup during a game at Burton Coliseum Dec. 2.

Rick Hickman / American Press