HUNTSVILLE, Texas – Northwestern State is playing its best basketball this season at the outset of the Southland Conference race, and the timing couldn't be better heading into the Demons' second league game Monday night at Sam Houston State.

NSU (6-6) and Sam Houston (9-4), both winners in their Southland openers Saturday, were picked 2-3 behind defending champion Stephen F. Austin in the preseason poll of the league's 13 head coaches.

The Bearkats posted a pair of three-point wins last season over NSU a year after the Demons swept three matchups with Sam Houston State, each decided in the closing minutes.

Both teams are on a roll. Sam Houston has won four straight and five of its last six, with the only loss a hard-fought decision at LSU.

After Saturday night's 99-78 romp at Houston Baptist, Northwestern has taken three of its last four, with the loss 100-92 at Arkansas, and is averaging 93.5 points per game and shooting 50 percent in the stretch.

The Bearkats return four starters from a 24-10 team last year and allow only 61 points and 38 percent shooting per game. They also have an outstanding plus 9.2 rebounding margin, 11^th nationally.

Tipoff is 8 p.m. at Johnson Coliseum after a 5:30 women's matchup between the schools. The game will be broadcast on the Demon Sports Network, flagshipped by 100.7 KZBL in Natchitoches and including SportsTalk 100.7 FM and SuperTalk 1340 AM KRMD in Shreveport, and KWLA 103.1 FM in Anacoco. Free audio is available at NSUDemons.com and SuperTalk1340.com.

"We've had some tremendous battles with Sam Houston through the years and especially in the past couple of seasons," said 16^th-year Demons coach Mike McConathy. "They have an outstanding team again this season that is unselfish, tough and well coached.

"We're playing good basketball now because we're getting contributions from all 10 guys going out there, and we'll definitely need that to continue Monday night to have an opportunity to win at the end," he said.

The Demons have followed the lead of their "Big Three" with Zeek Woodley, Jalan West and Marvin Frazier topping NSU in scoring, but in the last four games, the other seven players have dramatically improved their contributions.

Woodley remains the nation's No. 2 scorer at 22.8 per game on 59 percent shooting aim (19^th nationally). West tops the NCAA with an 8.2 assists average, is 14^th in steals per game (2.5) and is scoring 16.2 per game. Frazier adds averages of 10 points and 6.8 rebounds.

Surges from the other Demons are apparent. Newcomer Ta'Jon Welcome is averaging 11 points in the last three games, while Tra'von Joseph is averaging 9 points and 5.8 rebounds in that span. Tony Dobbinson has posted his NSU scoring high of 8 points in each of the last two games while Ryan King has finally been able to start his injury-delayed senior year by averaging 8.5 points and 7 rebounds in those contests.

Matt Killian has more than doubled his career averages with 4.6 points and 4.2 rebounds in the last four contests. Freshman Devonte Hall nearly posted his third double-figure scoring total at Houston Baptist, posting 9 points. Sophomore Sabri Thompson has averaged 8 points and 5 rebounds over the four-game span.

Sam Houston is similarly balanced, with six players scoring between 9.2 and 7.7 points per game behind senior guards DeMarcus Gatlin (11.0) and Kaheem Ransom (10.9).

The contest ends a string of four games in eight days, three on the road, for NSU. The Demons come home for three straight, starting Saturday afternoon against Incarnate Word, which fell in the last minute at Sam Houston by 84-78 two days ago.