NATCHITOCHES -- It's been seven years since a home game for the Northwestern State Demon basketball team has had national appeal, but Saturday afternoon's showdown with Stephen F. Austin is catching attention coast-to-coast.
 
The classic matchup of the highest-scoring team in NCAA Division I (the Demons, 85 points per game) against the nation's best defense (the Lumberjacks, 49.4 points allowed per game) has CBS Sports, ESPN and newspaper and online writers and other broadcasters taking notice. The 2006 Southland Conference championship game televised by ESPN2, propelling NSU into the NCAA Tournament, was the last home game to draw similar notice.
 
Tip is 3 p.m. Saturday in Prather Coliseum following a 1 p.m. women's contest between NSU (11-6 overall, 5-2 in the Southland Conference) and SFA (16-1, 7-0). SFA has the nation's fourth-best winning streak (11 games) and is one of only four teams nationally with just one loss, at Texas A&M.
 
The NSU-SFA series has always been entertaining and intense but never to this level. Demons' coach Mike McConathy says the fact that the teams top the country in scoring and scoring defense makes for a unique matchup, one that basketball experts around the country believe to be the first of its kind in recent memory, at least.
 
“(SFA's) Danny Kaspar is an unbelievable coach, and he believes in defense, and we like to get the ball up and down the floor. You have definitely the ultimate contrast in styles,” said McConathy.  “It's pretty unique to have this kind of matchup, even more so to have it between Southland Conference rivals.
 
“We have to do what we do and do it well, and take them out of some things they want to do. We've got to run into everything we do offensively and defensively we've got to be the aggressor, and force the issues.
 
“SFA is having a phenomenal year. They are incredible executing their offense. Their defense is the best in the country, but they are remarkable in how efficient and effective they are with the basketball,” said McConathy.
 
Since the game's pace is obviously pivotal, McConathy will be happy with each point scored until the closing moments, when he hopes the tempo has been fast enough to put Northwestern on top. Over the past three seasons, the Lumberjacks have not allowed 70 points in a game.
 
“I think if we score in the high 60s, it's in our favor. If we get in the 70s, I'll feel good and if it's in the 80s, I believe we'll win the basketball game,” said McConathy.
 
The Demons have four players averaging in double figures, six who have scored 20 or more in a game, and 10 who have posted 10 points at least once. Junior forward DeQuan Hicks (14.8), senior guard Shamir Davis (13.6), and identical 11.8 averages by redshirt freshman guard Jalan West and senior forward James Hulbin top NSU.
 
The Lumberjacks are paced by powerful center Taylor Smith, who scores 15.2 a game and is shooting 70.2 percent, along with averaging 8.2 rebounds. SFA is scoring 67.3 per game and winning by an average margin of 18 points.
 
It's the first meeting in the rivalry since the final regular-season game last year, won by SFA in Nacogdoches but overshadowed by the tragic news received a half-hour after the game as the Demons were preparing to board the bus back home. The sudden death of the infant twin sons of 2012 senior William Mosley stunned the NSU contingent, and prompted a caring reaction that continues to profoundly impact McConathy and the Demon basketball family.
 
“Coach Kaspar and the SFA and Nacogdoches community stepped up in a huge way that weekend and in the aftermath, with their personal concern and the help and support they provided. It touched us all and still does,” he said. “He's been there for 13 years, and I've been here for 14. We've known each other, competed against each other, and I've had great admiration for his coaching expertise. How he and SFA reacted to our situation was truly powerful.”
 
Next week, the Demons go to Lamar on Thursday and play a  rare Sunday conference game at McNeese State. They won't be at home again until Feb. 7 against Oral Roberts.