Will Wade turned the McNeese Cowboys into demons in the second season of the program. Mcney, who finished his appearance at the NCAA Tournament a year ago, has moved forward in every sense of the season. The Cowboys went 19-1 at the Southland Conference, skating the conference tournament to win another Autobid to get March Madness, looking like a potentially scary first-round matchup for No. 5 seed Clemson.
Wade was Southland's Coach of the Year, guard Javon Garcia was Southland Player of the Year, and Christian Schmate was repeated as Southland Defensive Player of the Year. The Cowboys had potential Cinderella markings, but one day before they turned over to Clemson, Wade reportedly accepted it NC status work.
Wade still coaches McNeese in the tournament, but now he's working for several more days in his old job. McNeece will be 32 rounds in the 2025 Men's NCAA Tournament, and will be 32 rounds after earning a historically bad offensive performance in a decisive opening round victory.
McNeese defeated Clemson 69-67 in the program's first Men's NCAA Tournament victory. The Cowboys have been defensively elite from the start of the game, overcoming a lack of size with athletic tenacity to palpate the first major upset of multimadness.
Brandon Murray, a former LSU player under Wade, finished with a game high of 21 points from the bench. Quadir Copeland (16 points) and Christian Shumate (13 points, 11 rebounds) also contributed to the victory.
Clemson went to Elite 8 last year and returned many important pieces from that team this season. Four ESPN analysts choose Clemson to go to the Final Four this year. Still, they couldn't compare to McNeece. Cowboys switch, ball pressure defense burned Clemson from the start. The Tigers' Star Chase Hunter and Ian Shepherin didn't fall into an offensive tide as McNee aggressively switched all screens to throw junk zone defense. The Cowboys opened the game with an 11-0 run in the first half, highlighting their athletic advantages.
McNeese has one player in a rotation that exceeds 6'6. Clemson had the advantage of large size at the forefront, but it was the Cowboys who dominated the paint. McNeese mercilessly with his offensive glass, he used their defenses on a daily basis to fall into transitional attacks, and worked well to hit the ball inside at every opportunity.
Clemson screamed in the second half, making it a close game. McNeese rose 22 points with less than eight minutes remaining in the restrictions before the comeback.
McNeese lost one game since December 22, when he lost to the Nicholls on February 1st. The Cowboys may be short in size, but they have shown that they have the athletes needed to run Wade's defensive system and could work against very good opponents like Clemson.
McNee's student manager, Amir Khan, was already on the way to become a viral sensation before victory. Now everyone wants a team of Cowboys, Boombox Carry Managers and already quitting head coaches.
Wade was famous for being caught up in an old FBI scandal at LSU Please go back before NIL is enabled. Wade was fired when the NCAA claim was mounted and now found red in McNeese. Next: You are about to switch the NC state. The Cowboys will see if they can walk around until the weekend.
McNeese is currently facing No. 4 seed Purdue, who survived a tough test against high points in the tournament opener. March Madness always gives us new heroes, but for now they look like the McNeese Cowboys.
