NEW ORLEANS – While Mardi Gras' biggest weekend slows down the Crescent City with five parades Saturday, the Northwestern State basketball team tries to keep rolling through its first-ever Southland Conference matchup with the New Orleans Privateers and former longtime Mike McConathy assistant Mark Slessinger.

As the Krewe of Endymion parade winds through Mid-City in the early evening, the Demons (13-13 overall, 9-6 in the Southland) and Privateers (11-12, 8-7) collide at 6:15 in Lakefront Arena. Northwestern is seeking its ninth win in the last 11 games after holding off Southeastern Louisiana 88-83 Thursday night in Hammond. UNO was routed 103-63 at home Thursday as Stephen F. Austin clinched the regular-season conference championship with three games remaining.

McConathy's Demons are in a fifth-place tie in the Southland standings and could wind up as high as second by the time the season wraps up next Saturday night. The top four teams in the standings get byes in the Southland Tournament, and SFA and the runner-up receive double byes into the tourney semifinals.

Slessinger, UNO's third-year coach, was on McConathy's NSU staff for 11 seasons and his familiarity with the Demons is undeniably a factor in Saturday's matchup.

"Mark has had a huge impact on the success we've had and he deserved the opportunity to be a Division I head coach," said McConathy, in his 15^th season as the Demons' head coach. "He obviously knows us extremely well. He's done a fantastic job this season (UNO's first in the Southland) and his team has beaten some teams we didn't (UTEP, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi).

"We've had to play against Dave Simmons (McNeese's head coach and an NSU assistant from 1999-2007) for several years now, and it's a challenging experience from the emotional and basketball perspectives. Sless helped recruit some of our team (notably seniors Gary Stewart and Patrick Robinson, junior Marvin Frazier and redshirt sophomore Jalan West) and he is always going to have a special place in our hearts and in the history of Demon basketball," said McConathy. "Saturday evening, we've got to bring our best. It's their final home game, and they have some very good, very explosive players that we're familiar with through the recruiting process."

The Demons, who have made 56 percent of their shots in the last two games, remain No. 2 nationally with an 85.7 scoring average, are sixth in steals per game (9.1) and sit 10^th in assists (16.4). They are 24^th in turnover margin (plus 3.1), 28^th in blocked shots (5.5), 48^th in free throw aim (73.7 percent) and 67^th in field goal percentage (46.4).

West, the dynamic 5-10 point guard, is fifth nationally in steals (2.7 average) and eighth in assists (6.6) while ranking 42^nd in free throw shooting (86.5 percent) and 50^th in assist/turnover ratio (plus 2.5). He was one of five double-digit scorers in the win Thursday night at Southeastern and tops NSU with an 18.4 scoring average.

Senior guard Brison White led NSU with 20 points, raising his average to 17.3 in the last nine games as he has made 55 percent of his shots. His season scoring average is up to 13.9.

Senior forward DeQuan Hicks contributes 15.1 points and 7.4 rebounds, fourth in the Southland. Freshman guard Zeek Woodley is scoring 13.2 points per game and ranks fifth in the NCAA with his 61.7 percent shooting aim. Stewart is on a three-game roll, averaging 11.3 points and 59 percent shooting accuracy.

UNO is led by senior forward Cory Dixon, who began his college career as a Slessinger recruit for Northwestern. Dixon, who turned an ankle five minutes into play Thursday night and did not continue in the 103-63 loss to SFA, is the Southland's second-best rebounder with a 7.8 average and scores a team-high 13.5 per game.

In league games, UNO has gotten a boost from Alexandria freshman guard Christavious Gill, who is averaging 11 points and hitting 40 percent of his 3-point tries. Tradarrious McPhearson is also scoring 11 per Southland contest.

The game is the last in a stretch of five consecutive road outings for Northwestern, which plays its last two regular-season games in Prather Coliseum, next Thursday night against Central Arkansas and next Saturday against Oral Roberts.

The NSU-UNO game will be broadcast on the Demon Sports Network, flagshipped by 100.7 FM KZBL in Natchitoches and including 92.1 KSYR FM in Shreveport and 99.9 KTEZ FM in Many. Free streaming audio is available through NSUDemons.com.