HAMMOND – Northwestern State has been nearly perfect lately in the Southland Conference basketball race, and as March Madness nears, the Demons shoot for their eighth win in 10 outings Thursday night in their only meeting this year with Southeastern Louisiana.

Tipoff is 7:30 at the University Center with the game carried by ESPN3. The Demons (12-13 overall, 8-6 in the Southland) hope to bounce back after an agonizing 70-68 defeat at league-leading Stephen F. Austin last Saturday while the Lions (11-14, 6-8) are aiming for their third straight home win with a 5-2 mark in Southland games in Hammond.

Since opening league play 1-4 due largely to poor defense and rebounding, the Demons' only two losses have come at the final buzzer on the road to the top two teams in the Southland standings, SFA and Sam Houston State. Last week's defeat came despite 58 percent shooting aim, but stemmed from 21 turnovers, a season-worst mark. NSU had no more than 15 miscues in its previous 15 games.

Seven of NSU's last nine opponents have shot 40 percent or worse and the Demons have a plus 1.9 rebounding margin in the last nine outings after being thrashed on the board to that point in the season. Sharp aim on free throws (80 percent) and 3-pointers (43 percent) has bolstered Northwestern since its bad start in the conference race.

The Demons maintain three NCAA top 10 statistical rankings: second in scoring (86.5 average), fifth in steals (9.2) and 10th in assists (16.4 per game). Sophomore point guard Jalan West is the only player in the country averaging at least 18.5 points (18.7 actual), 4.0 rebounds (4.2 actual), 6.5 assists (6.7 actual) and 2.5 steals (2.7 actual). He is one of only two players in the NCAA top 10 in steals (fifth) and assists (eighth). In his last three games, West is also averaging eight rebounds while he has soared into seventh on NSU's career assists rankings (332) and to ninth all-time in steals (142).

NSU senior forward DeQuan Hicks ranks in the Southland's top 10 in scoring (15.3, eighth), rebounding (7.6, third) and steals (1.6, fifth). Senior guard Brison White is averaging 13.7 points overall but is hot recently, scoring 17 per game with 54 percent aim in the last nine games. Freshman guard Zeek Woodley is eighth in the NCAA's shooting aim stats (61.9 percent) and averages 13.3 points.

Senior guard Gary Stewart has averaged 12 a game in the last two contests while sinking 10 of 14 shots.

Southeastern is topped by 6-4 junior guard JaMichael Hawkins, scoring 13.4 points per game, and 6-7 senior Antonnio Benton with averages of 12 points and 6.5 rebounds. Seven different players have led the Lions in scoring in at least one game this season.

The Lions have won seven of the last 10 battles with NSU, but the Demons swept last year's series, including a come-from-behind 79-76 win in Hammond. Southeastern fell 67-59 last Saturday at New Orleans.

The Demons will wrap up a string of five road games Saturday evening at UNO. The final two regular-season home games are next Thursday, March 6 against Central Arkansas and March 8 against Oral Roberts in Prather Coliseum.

NSU has clinched a spot in next month's Southland Conference Tournament at Katy and can finish as high as third in the standings. SLU has a magic number of two, in a head-to-head battle with Central Arkansas for a trip to the tournament.

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 FM KTEZ FM in Many. Free audio is available on NSUDemons.com.