1988–89 McNeese State Cowboys basketball team

American college basketball season

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

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.

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

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.

^ "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.
^ "1988-89 McNeese State Cowboys Schedule and Results". Sports Reference. Retrieved April 24, 2020.

v t e McNeese Cowboys basketball
Venues	Memorial Gymnasium (1945–1956) McNeese Arena (1956–1972) Lake Charles Civic Center (1972–1986) Burton Coliseum (1986–2018) The Legacy Center (2018–present)
Rivalries	Lamar
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NAIA national championship in bold