McNeese Falls to Vanderbilt in NCAA Tournament

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (KNGT-FM) - There will be no Cinderella run for McNeese this year, as the Cowboys fell to Vanderbilt 78-68 Thursday afternoon in the NCAA Tournament in Oklahoma City.

Year one under Bill Armstrong comes to a close in Oklahoma City, with the Cowboys finishing 28-6 overall.

The Commodores, who finished fourth in the SEC, got all they wanted and more from McNeese.

“I’m so proud of these guys and their effort all year long,” he said. “They handled adversity all season and finished 28-6. We came here wanting to represent McNeese and the Southland Conference, and I think we did that.”

It was about as good a start as it could’ve been in the first half for McNeese. The Cowboys raced out to an early 21-12 lead, forcing 5 Vandy turnovers in the first eight minutes of the game. The Commodores quickly ramped up the effort on the defensive end and settled into the game at the midway point of the half.

McNeese led by as many as 11 in the first half, but Vanderbilt was able to turn that deficit into a 3-point halftime lead, 38-33.

At the break, Larry Johnson and Tyshawn Archie led the Cowboys with 9 points each.

Vanderbilt started the 2nd half on a 7-0 run to stretch their lead to 10, 45-35, their biggest lead of the game to that point. McNeese quickly answered with a 7-0 run of their own to cut the Vandy lead back to 3 at the 15-minute mark of the 2nd Half.

After going blow-for-blow for much of the 2nd Half, Vanderbilt hit the knockout punch at the 3:30 mark when Tyler Tanner hit his third triple of the game. Tanner would finish with a game-high 24 points.

What ultimately did McNeese in was a six-minute scoring drought midway through the second half, allowing Vanderbilt to take control for good.

“In the last four minutes, it’s a three-point game, and they made the plays while we didn’t,” Armstrong said. “Their physicality at the rim probably kept us from finishing some of those shots. I thought we got the looks we wanted—we just couldn’t convert.”

After McNeese’s upset win over #5 Clemson in the ‘25 NCAA Tournament, there weren’t going to be many teams who slept on them this go-round. Perhaps this year, the Cinderella crown had already been given out after High Point upset Wisconsin to start the day.

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The coveted careers for Javohn Garcia and DJ Richards come to a close with their third trip to the NCAA Tournament, which has never been done before in McNeese history. Garcia finished his McNeese career with 10 points, while Richards poured in 9 points on three 3-pointers.

“We started a foundation—that’s something to be proud of,” Richards said. “We wanted to go out with a bang and bring McNeese here three years in a row. It’s been a lot for us. Right now it’s tough, but a week from now we’ll look back and be happy about what we accomplished.”

“McNeese is like a second home. We wanted to leave a legacy, and I think we did that,” said Javohn Garcia.

Garwey Dual played big minutes for the Cowboys and ended up being McNeese’s leading scorer with 16 points on 7 of 13 shooting, including a pair of threes. Freshman sensation Larry Johnson added 15.

No doubt a successful year one for Bill Armstrong, but now he’ll get back to work for another year in Lake Charles. The future of the program appears to be in good hands. Armstrong recently inked a new five-year deal worth $1.985 million.

Despite the loss, Armstrong believes this season laid a strong foundation for the future of the program. “I don’t know if there’s ever been a head coach more fortunate to coach a group like this in his first year,” he said. “These guys laid the foundation—not just for this program, but for me.”

“Everybody knows who McNeese is now,” he said. “We’re going to use that to keep building and hopefully make it four straight.”