LUBBOCK, Texas – A stretch of four games in eight days, the last three on the road, wraps up Tuesday night for the Northwestern State basketball team way out in west Texas against a hard-nosed Texas Tech squad in a 7 p.m. matchup.
 
The Demons (2-2) and Red Raiders (2-1) play each other for the first time in almost exactly five years but they have had a common opponent recently. Texas Tech lost the lead late at LSU on Nov. 18 and fell 69-64 in overtime. The Demons and Tigers tangled competitively in a preseason scrimmage Nov. 1 in Natchitoches.
 
The Red Raiders rebounded from the LSU loss with an 80-68 victory at home Saturday night over Missouri State. Sunday, the Demons fell 90-68 at 18^th-ranked Oklahoma, getting as close as 12 in the second half but unable to overcome a 50-30 halftime deficit. NSU's other defeat came at Texas A&M in the season opener.
 
Tuesday night's game will be broadcast on the Demon Sports Network, flagshipped by 100.7 KZBL FM in Natchitoches and including SportsTalk 100.7 FM and SuperTalk 1340 AM KRMD in Shreveport, and KWLA 103.1 FM in Many/Leesville. Free audio is available at NSUDemons.com and SuperTalk1340.com.
 
Regional television coverage on Fox College Sports Pacific is available to satellite customers and some cable viewers.
 
NSU sophomore swingman Zeek Woodley is on a roll with a 20.8 scoring average, sinking 56 percent of his shots, and snagging 5.8 rebounds per game. Junior point guard Jalan West is scoring 13.8 per game while averaging 7.5 assists and 3.8 steals, and senior center Marvin Frazier is more productive than ever with averages of 11.5 points, 5.8 rebounds and 57 percent 3-point aim (8-14).  
 
Texas Tech, under veteran coach Tubby Smith, is playing tough defense, holding its opponents to 38 percent aim, outrebounding them 41-36, and allowing only 65.3 points per game.  Norense Odiase tops the Red Raiders with averages of 14 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocked shots, having hit 14 of 22 shots from the floor. Devaughntah Williams has drained 8 of 10 3-pointers  and is scoring 11.7 per game.
 
"It's a challenging matchup. Coach Smith is one of the master coaches in the game. He's been very successful with several programs in his career and it's rooted in his teams playing tough, smart basketball and being very good defensively and rebounding very well," said 16^th-year Demons coach Mike McConathy.
 
"We obviously want to get the speed of the game up, and then be more efficient in our transition game to get good shots and easy baskets. Playing better defensively is a must if we're going to have a chance to succeed," he said. "In our last two games, we've made some strides in several areas, with some more guys stepping up their contributions, and we've seen encouraging signs. There's a lot of room for improvement but there's no doubt we have the capability to play some very good basketball."
 
The Demons are hitting just 39 percent of their shots and only 22 percent on 3-pointers while being outrebounded 44-37. Opponents have hit 48 percent overall, 39 percent on 3s.
 
NSU comes home Saturday to meet Missouri Valley at 3 p.m. in Prather Coliseum, and entertain Louisiana Tech on Tuesday, Dec. 2 at 6:30.