McNeese State takes a newly gained optimism into a Saturday afternoon basketball contest with Louisiana Tech in Ruston. Tipoff is 3 p.m.

The Cowboys, 6-5 on the season, are fresh from an upset victory over Southern Miss on the road.

Following that game, McNeese head coach Dave Simmons told his team that that victory will put a fear into every opponent's eye toward the Cowboys in their following games.

This contest will conclude McNeese's non-conference schedule as the Cowboys next outing will be a Southland Conference opener against defending league champion TAM-Corpus Christi in Lake Charles on Jan. 12.

Saturday's meeting will be the 86th in the series between the two teams. McNeese holds a 49-36 edge but Tech won last year's meeting in Lake Charles by a 59-50 score.

Tech is 2-9 on the season and has dropped eight of its last nine games.

Simmons said that his starting lineup is expected to include John Ford and Rorey Lawrence at guard, Jarvis Bradley and John Pichon at forward and Kleon Penn at center.

Bradley leads the team in both scoring and rebounding with averages of 13.5 and 6.2 , respectively. Ford, who was held scoreless against Southern Miss, has a 9.1 average and is tops on the team in assists with 3.5 per game.

Lawrence has a 6.1 scoring average, Pichon a 7.2 mark and Penn is scoring at a 6.5 clip, is second in rebounds with a 5.4 average and ranked No. 6 in the nation in blocked shots with a 4.0 average.

Tech's leading scorer and rebounder is Kyle Gibson with averages of 13.3 and 6.9.