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McNeese State University was one of the teams to make the NCAA Tournament as they are the No. 12 seed in the Midwest Region. They will face off against the No. 5 seed Gonzaga Bulldogs in March Madness. But what is there to know about the McNeese Cowboys? Let's dive into the school and explore their journey to this point.
Where is McNeese State University?
McNeese State University is a small college in the Southland Conference located in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Their undergraduate enrollment in 2021-2022 had 5,202 students, so they are not as large as some other programs in the nation. Notable alumnus Joe Dumars gives the school a bit more notoriety.
How did the McNeese State Cowboys make the NCAA Tournament?
The McNeese State Cowboys have been one of the most dominant programs in college basketball. They went 30-3 overall and 17-1 in the Southland Conference. Even if the team didn't win the Southland Tournament to get the automatic bid, they were likely to be one of the top at-large teams for their absolute dominance.
The program has been one of the top offensive teams in college basketball, standing 43rd in the NCAA with 80.4 points per game and averaging 15.0 assists as a team. On defense, they are doing extremely well, giving up just 61.5 points per game. The team lost twice in their first seven games and then went on a dominant run, winning 25 of their last 26 games to enter March Madness 2024.
The team is led by senior guard Shahada Wells, who's shooting 47.5% from the floor and 40.2% from beyond the arc. He also took a massive step this season as he averaged 17.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 3.0 steals in 32.1 minutes. To put the steals in perspective, he's second in college basketball in steals per game, only trailing Florida International's Arturo Dean's 3.4 this season.
