CONWAY, Ark. _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears were at full strength for the first meeting with the McNeese Cowboys last month, and it resulted in an 81-67 victory for the visiting Bears at Burton Coliseum.

    The Cowboys were playing without their leading scorer and rebounder KeyShawn Feazell, the leading rebounder (10.9 per game) in the Southland Conference with the second-best field-goal percentage (55.7 percent).

    The script will be flipped when the Bears and Cowboys meet at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Farris Center. Feazell is back in the McNeese lineup but the Bears are missing senior point guard DeAndre Jones, who had 14 points, 9 rebounds and three assists in the first matchup. Jones has been out of the UCA lineup since a knee injury that required surgery occurred on Jan. 6 against New Orleans. Also, junior guard/forward Khaleem Bennett, UCA's fourth-leading scorer (9.4 ppg) is expected to miss his second consecutive game while in concussion protocol.

    The Bears do have one player back that missed the first game, sophomore guard Collin Cooper, and he's been solid since his return. Cooper, from Fayetteville, is averaging 13 points per game and has made seven three-pointers in three appearances.

    UCA shot 49.2 percent from the field in the initial meeting and defensively held McNeese to just 32.1 percent. The Cowboys kept it close by making nine three-pointers, including 6 by senior guard Dru Kuxhausen, and getting 33 free throws (making 22). Kuxhausen, one of the top three-point shooters in the nation, led McNeese with 22 points.

    UCA had four players in double figures, led by senior guard Rylan Bergersen with 18 points, Jones with 14 and Jared Chatham and Bennett with 13 each.  With Feazell out of the lineup for McNeese, the Bears dominated the rebounding battle 45-30, including 12 offensive rebounds.
    
    The Cowboys (7-10, 1-7) have lost two straight games to Nicholls and Lamar after a win over Houston Baptist on Jan. 23. McNeese will be playing its fourth consecutive road game on Saturday.  UCA will be playing just its sixth home game of the season.

    Bergersen leads the Bears with 16.7 points per game, and is averaging 18 ppg game in conference play. Chatham is UCA's top rebounder at 6.3 per game, which ranks eighth in the SLC, and is also shooting 88.5 percent from the free-throw line. Bergersen is second in the league in assists (4.3) to McNeese's A.J. Lawson (5.4).

    Feazell is McNeese's leading scorer (14.9) and rebounder (10.9), while also leading in field-goal percentage (55.7 percent) and free-throw percentage (74.1 percent).  Kuxhausen's 43.1-percent shooting from beyond the arc ranks second in the SLC.

    The Cowboys are the top scoring team in the conference at 83.2 points per game, thanks in part to six non-division I blowouts during the preseason.  In conference play, the Cowboys average 71.8 points, good for ninth in the SLC and slightly less than UCA's 72.1 points per game.

    UCA has won the past three meetings with McNeese, including a season sweep a year ago, but the Cowboys lead the overall series 18-11.

    The game can be heard live on The Bear 91.3 with Justin Acri and will be streamed live on ucasports.com.