Box score
GEORGE TOWN, GRAND CAYMAN, CAYMAN ISLANDS – The story of this game was written in the first half, when the McNeese State defense completely stymied Murray State and rolled out to a 23-point halftime lead.
Eventually, the Cowboys (5-1) walked away with a 73-60 victory in the second round of the Cayman Islands Classic. Murray State saw its mark slip to 4-3.
In the first half of the contest, McNeese forced 15 turnovers (committing just two itself) and that converted into a 23-0 margin in points off turnovers. The Cowboys held an 18-0 edge in fast break points, thanks to its transition attack. The Cowboy “D” held the Racers to 17 percent accuracy in the opening 20 minutes.
Tyshawn Archie paced the McNeese offense with 17 points. Javohn Garcia filled the stats sheet with 15 points, six rebounds, six assists and three blocked shots. Larry Johnson chipped in with 10 points. Six different Cowboys had at least two steals.
Murray State, which finished with 31.6 percent field goal performance (18-for-57) was led in scoring by Mason Miller with 14, including 4-of-5 from long range, while Roman Domon added 11 points and seven rebounds. Fred King was the game’s top rebounder with 12.
Things took a turn toward horror for Murray State, which actually jumped to an 8-2 lead in the first few minutes, all eight points coming from Miller. After that, however, the Racers went more than eight minutes without scoring and McNeese cobbled together a 20-0 run to take a commanding lead.
Over a 10-minute span, all the Racers could make was two free throws.
In the second half, the McNeese lead ballooned to as much as 31 points, 57-26, with 13:02 to play.
Murray State rallied to score the next dozen points and cut the margin to 57-38, with Domon netting seven of the 12. The Racers had one more charge, but the nearest they could get was 13 points, eventually the final difference.
The final count on points off turnovers was 27-8, which was the exact same difference in fast break points. McNeese also owned a 44-14 advantage on points in the paint.
The 2025 Cayman Islands Classic wraps up Tuesday night with the final pair of games. McNeese will take on Middle Tennessee at 5 p.m. while Murray State and George Washington meet at 7:30 p.m.
McNeese can clinch the tourney championship with a victory.