NATCHITOCHES – It's reasonable that Northwestern State basketball coach Mike McConathy can count on the nation's No. 1 scorer, Zeek Woodley, and the NCAA's assists leader, Jalan West, to continue their consistently superior production Wednesday afternoon at 3 in Prather Coliseum against Louisiana College.
 
Completing NSU's "Big Three" is senior center Marvin Frazier, who's been steady all season with career best averages of 10.5 points and 7.3 rebounds.
 
Continuing recently improved contributions from rest of the Demons (4-6) is something McConathy is hoping to see Wednesday against LC (3-3) and when Southland Conference play unfolds on the road Saturday night at Houston Baptist and Monday night at Sam Houston State.
 
"We've played well the last two times out because we've gotten more from more players," said McConathy. "With the conference season about to begin, more guys are stepping up their games."
 
Woodley's 23.1 scoring average is the NCAA's best, as is West's 8.4 assist rate per game. West has stepped up his scoring in the last four games, posting a 23.3 rate against Louisiana Tech, UL Monroe, UL Lafayette and Arkansas to bump his season average to 16.3 per game.
 
Season-best production by Ta'Jon Welcome, Sabri Thompson and Matt Killian, and improvement from Tra'von Joseph and Tony Dobbinson, in the last two games have produced arguably NSU's best outings so far this season. The Demons dumped UL Lafayette 89-85 on Dec. 20, then pressed Arkansas into the final half minute of a 100-92 defeat Sunday in Fayetteville.
 
Freshman guard Devonte Hall has made solid impact all year.
 
McConathy's squad has begun to overcome interior deficiencies with four players 6-7 or bigger sidelined. Senior forward Ryan King (finger surgery) may finally get back to action in a few days, while NSU will get 6-11 Deji Adekunle into action Jan. 13. Idled with a sprained knee is 6-11 freshman Reginald Kissoonlal, who might return in the next two weeks, while 6-8 senior Matt LeBato is on the shelf indefinitely with ankle issues.
 
Although playing a non-Division I foe in Louisiana College, McConathy is expecting a good fight from the Wildcats.
 
"Gene Rushing can outcoach anybody, anywhere. His teams have always caused us problems and we'll need to continue to play well Wednesday," he said.
 
The game should be fast-paced. NSU is scoring and LC has a 77.3 average, led by 21.3 points from Anthony Gaines Jr., 14.3 by Kevin Lewis, 14.2 from Kevin Cottonham and 10.3 by Steve Evans.
 
Tipoff was initially scheduled for 6:30, a time that appears on NSU's season tickets, but was moved up to 3 to avoid conflicting with the City of Natchitoches' 7 o'clock New Year's Eve fireworks show on the downtown riverbank.
 
"With the pace of our game and the players in it, we'll have our own set of fireworks Wednesday afternoon," said McConathy. "I hope folks realize how special it is for us to have the No. 1 scorer and the No. 1 assist man in college basketball, and those who can will take the opportunity to get out to see the game."
 
The contest will be carried by the Demon Sports Network, flagshipped by 100.7 KZBL FM in Natchitoches and including SportsTalk 100.7 and SuperTalk 1340 AM in Shreveport and 103.1 KWLA FM in Anacoco. Free live audio is available at NSUDemons.com and SuperTalk1340.com, and pay-per-view live streaming video is at NSUDemons.com.
 
The next homecourt appearance for NSU is Jan. 10 against Incarnate Word.