NATCHITOCHES – One of the area's best basketball talent showcases in decades unfolds Saturday afternoon at 3 in Prather Coliseum as Northwestern State's Jalan West and Zeek Woodley lead the Demons against Shawn Long and the Ragin' Cajuns of UL-Lafayette.
 
Woodley is the nation's fourth-leading scorer at 23.8 per game, while West leads the country in assists (8.4 average) and is sixth in steals (3.0). Long is the leading career rebounder among all active college players (10.1 per game), No. 11 in career scoring average (16.9), and the 6-9 junior center tops his team with season averages of 16 points and eight rebounds.
 
"This is an opportunity to come see three players who are as good as you'll find. You could roll back the calendar many, many years since you've had a chance to see this level of play on one court in one game in northwest Louisiana on a Saturday in December," said 16^th-year Demons coach Mike McConathy, who grew up in Bossier City and was a 2,000-point scorer at Louisiana Tech in 1973-77. "Zeek, Jalan and Shawn Long are exceptional players."
 
While their performances will be in the spotlight, the outcome between the Demons (3-5) and the Cajuns (6-4) could likely hinge on who else steps up Saturday.  UL-Lafayette is averaging 108 points per game in its last three outings since an 80-70 loss two weeks ago at McNeese.
 
"Offensively we need to be very good so we can counter what they're doing," said McConathy. "We've got to get points away from our 'Big Three,' Jalan, Zeek and Marvin (Frazier)."
 
Woodley's scoring benefits from the sophomore's 61.3 percent shooting aim, 22^nd nationally, including 43 percent 3-point accuracy. West, a junior, is scoring 14.9 per game while Frazier, NSU's 6-8 senior center, has career-best averages of 10 points and 7.3 rebounds.
 
The Cajuns played in last year's NCAA Tournament. The Demons were in the Big Dance a year earlier. UL-Lafayette, which throttled NSU 105-74 last year in Lafayette, has won five of its last six.
 
"It's a very talented team that is very, very well coached with Bob Marlin and staff. Shawn Long is a big, broad, athletic player who is very effective and a matchup problem for most anybody in college basketball," said McConathy.
 
West, the 5-10 junior from Bossier City, said he and Long, a Morgan City native, have been in touch all week on social media, taking friendly jabs.
 
"We've been getting at each other," he said. "I'm looking forward to playing against him and competing because he runs with a pretty high motor. They have a pretty good team and they beat up on us pretty good last year, so I am looking forward to playing them at home and trying to get back at them."

Fans can get discounted tickets ($4) for each toy of any value brought to the arena as a donation to Toys For Tots. Season ticket holders who bring toys to donate will be entered in a drawing for a $130 prize package of items donated by NSU Athletics and local businesses.
 
The matchup will be broadcast on the Demon Sports Network, flagshipped by 100.7 KZBL FM in Natchitoches along with KWLA 103.1 FM in Anacoco. Free audio is available at NSUDemons.com and pay-per-view live streaming video is also available there.
 
NSU will play for the first time in 11 days, having concluded a break for final exams. UL-Lafayette has played twice this week.
 
McConathy's comfortable, even happy, for the pause between games.
 
"It's very normal for this time of year and it's very positive for us. We've been able to address some of the weaknesses and problems we've been dealing with over the course of the season," he said.
 
"We've got to rebound and stay in front of people better. It's become a very difficult thing across the country to stay in front of players dribbling. It's a combination of not being able to use the body and arms defending the dribbler – you're supposed to play with your feet, like they did 40 years ago – and that really creates a challenge as quick and skilled with the ball as players today are," he said. "We also need to block off on the back side (rebounding). It was our Achilles' heel against Louisiana Tech and UL-Monroe, games in which we didn't rebound on the back side and gave up way too many second-chance points."
 
NSU has played all season without two of its primary inside players, 6-11 junior college transfer Deji Adekunle and 6-7 senior Ryan King, who is expected back from finger surgery relatively soon but not Saturday. Adekunle, sidelined by an NCAA eligibility ruling, is set to debut Jan. 13 against Abilene Christian.
 
Not having those "bigs" has been a handicap for rebounding and post defense, McConathy said, but NSU should overcome it.
 
"You have to be realistic that we've been down two and maybe another with (6-11 freshman) Reginald Kissoonlal having a knee problem that's kept him out of practice this week," he said. "But the guys we have can do better. We have to adopt an 'all-hands-on-deck' approach with whomever is ready to go being able to play multiple positions and fill the necessary role, and for us that certainly means rebounding the basketball better."
 
After Saturday, the Demons don't play again until a Dec. 28 visit to Arkansas. They wrap up the non-conference schedule at home on New Year's Eve with a 3 p.m. visit from nearby Louisiana College.