1988–89 McNeese State Cowboys basketball team

The 1988–89 McNeese State Cowboys basketball team represented the McNeese State University during the 1988–89 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Cowboys, led by head coach Steve Welch, played their home games at Burton Coliseum and were members of the Southland Conference. They finished the season with a record of 16–14, 9–5 in Southland play. They won the 1989 Southland Conference men's basketball tournament to earn an automatic bid in the 1989 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament as No. 16 seed in the Midwest region. They lost in the first round to No. 1 seed Illinois, 77–71.

1988–89 McNeese State Cowboys basketball
Southland tournament champions
NCAA tournament
Conference	Southland Conference
Record	16–14 (9–5 Southland)
Head coach	Steve Welch
Home arena	Burton Coliseum
Seasons ← 1987–88 1989–90 →

1988–89 Southland Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
North Texas State	10	–	4		.714			14	–	15		.483
NE Louisiana	9	–	5		.643			17	–	12		.586
McNeese State †	9	–	5		.643			16	–	14		.533
Sam Houston State	8	–	6		.571			12	–	16		.429
Northwestern State	7	–	7		.500			13	–	16		.448
Texas State	6	–	8		.429			13	–	17		.433
UT Arlington	4	–	10		.286			7	–	21		.250
Stephen F. Austin	3	–	11		.214			10	–	18		.357
† 1989 Southland Conference tournament winner

Roster

1988–89 McNeese State Cowboys men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown F Anthony Pullard 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Jr DeQuincy, Louisiana	Head coach Steve Welch Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
Nov 26, 1988*		at No. 7 Iowa	L 56–77	0–1	Carver-Hawkeye Arena  Iowa City, Iowa
Dec 8, 1988*		at LSU	L 89–91	3–3	Maravich Assembly Center  Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Jan 16, 1989*		Louisiana Tech	L 64–70	6–6	Burton Coliseum  Lake Charles, Louisiana
Feb 25, 1989		Texas State	W 67–57	13–13 (8–5)	Burton Coliseum  Lake Charles, Louisiana
Mar 2, 1989		at Stephen F. Austin	W 87–85	14–13 (9–5)	William R. Johnson Coliseum  Nacogdoches, Texas
Southland tournament
Mar 5, 1989*		vs. Northeast Louisiana	W 80–65	15–13	Super Pit  Denton, Texas
Mar 6, 1989*		at North Texas	W 85–68	16–13	Super Pit  Denton, Texas
NCAA tournament
Mar 16, 1989*	(16 MW)	vs. (1 MW) No. 3 Illinois	L 71–77[1]	16–14	RCA Dome  Indianapolis, Indiana
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest. All times are in Central Time.

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References

1. "McNeese State's first appearance in the NCAA basketball tournament was a brief but memorable one". UPI Archives. March 17, 1989. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
2. "1988-89 McNeese State Cowboys Schedule and Results". Sports Reference. Retrieved April 24, 2020.