BEAUMONT, Texas – Northwestern State gets to the halfway point of the Southland Conference basketball race with a visit to Lamar Thursday night as the Demons try to stay a game off the lead after tightening the standings by knocking Stephen F. Austin into a first-place tie last Saturday.
 
The Demons (12-6 overall, 6-2 in the Southland) are a game back of SFA (16-2, 7-1) and Oral Roberts (12-8, 7-1) heading into the ninth game in the 18-game Southland schedule. Six teams are at .500 or better in the standings and another, Central Arkansas, has won three straight.  Lamar (2-18, 0-8) has struggled with a rebuilt roster under second-year coach Pat Knight.
 
“They will be well prepared for us. They run their stuff extremely well. It will take a great effort against them to go get a win on the road,” said McConathy. “They have good players, they're very, very talented, just trying to find the right fits with so many new faces. Pat Knight showed last year how good he is at turning around a team that is struggling. They went from being on the rocks to going to the NCAA Tournament.”
 
Northwestern whipped Lamar 86-58 in Natchitoches, but McConathy believes the rematch requires a better performance by the Demons, on the road. Lamar has played three league games at home, falling by four, 11 and six points. This will be only the fifth home game of the season for the Cardinals.
 
“The score of our first game with Lamar is very deceptive because they outrebounded us by 15, had 20 offensive rebounds, and for a great portion of the game, it was about an 8-10 point margin. We were able to pull away late. This was one we had to earn,” he said. “They'll be at home in the Montagne Center and that's a big plus for them.”
 
Tipoff is 7:30 p.m. at the Montagne Center following a women's game between the schools. The Demons are just 4-17 in Beaumont.
 
Boasting the nation's No. 1 scoring offense at 83.7 points per game, the Demons are led by four double-digit scorers:  junior forward DeQuan Hicks (14.7), senior guard Shamir Davis (13.2), senior forward James Hulbin (12.2) and redshirt freshman guard Jalan West (11.7).  Hicks (6.8) and Hulbin (6.7) rank 8-9 in the conference in rebounding, and are 3-4 (Hicks at 56.3 percent, Hulbin at 53.9) in shooting aim. West is second in assists (5.1) and tops in steals (2.4, 15th nationally), and second in free throw accuracy (82 percent).
 
Lamar's top performer has been Stan Brown, averaging 10.1 points and 6.2 rebounds. Freshman Keilan Blanks scored 25 at Oral Roberts last week and has hit 50 percent on 3-pointers in the past five games.
 
The Demons rank in the top 100 of 11 NCAA team statistics, including 16th in both steals (9.5) and blocks (5.5) per game. Hicks ranks 26th in shooting percentage while West is 37th in assist-turnover ratio (plus 2.46).
 
The game will be broadcast on the Demon Sports Network, flagshipped by 100.7 FM KZBL in Natchitoches and including 92.1 FM KSYR in Shreveport and 99.9 KTEZ FM in Many. Free live audio is available at theNSUDemons.com website.
 
Having played every conference team except Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, McConathy says the Southland remains very competitive.
 
“It's pretty even. On any given night, anybody can beat anybody. It's very competitive among the teams that are 4-4 or better and there are some very capable teams off to slow starts, teams that are dangerous and hungry with much of the conference season left to play,” he said.
 
After visiting Lamar, the Demons go to McNeese on Super Bowl Sunday for a 4:35 contest in Burton Coliseum televised by Comcast Houston. NSU is home again next Thursday night, Feb. 7, for what could be a crucial conference contest against Oral Roberts.