SHREVEPORT – Northwestern State basketball coach Mike McConathy has blazed a different trail from the rest of his NCAA Division I peers, sending his Demons on the road recently to visit lower-division opponents, and he does it again Saturday.
 
None of the previous experiences have been as perilous as NSU's 5 p.m. matchup with NAIA power LSU Shreveport at the Gold Dome on the Centenary campus. It's the last of three games in the second annual Shreveport-Bossier Holiday Classic, with the first two Saturday pitting the women's and men's teams from Centenary and Millsaps.
 
The Demons (3-5) have won three of their last four games, but will play for only the second time in 17 days. Last Saturday, they led from the outset and blitzed Division III Louisiana College 88-58 on the road in Alexandria's Rapides Parish Coliseum.
 
That was the third time in recent years NSU has traveled to play on the homecourt of a nearby lower division foe. In 2014, the Demons prevailed 89-79 at LSU Alexandria, and a season later, won 92-79 at Centenary.
 
"Shreveport-Bossier and Alexandria-Pineville are cornerstone communities for our university. We have lots of alumni and students there, we have campuses there, and we want to reach out to our fans and expand our fan base by playing there," said McConathy. "That doesn't make it any less stressful for our coaches, especially this time."
 
LSUS (12-1) ranks No. 2 in the latest NAIA top 25 poll, leading the nation in steals (144), ranking second in 3-pointers (157) and fourth in scoring average (103.9 points per game). The Pilots have six double-digit scorers, led by Stevie Clark (19.4) and returning NAIA All-American Benjamin Batts (17.7).
 
"LSU-S is very talented. They have a very good coach in Kyle Blankenship. Their players can score at every position, and they're free-wheeling. It's a very tough matchup," he said. "The mindset we take into the game will be the most important thing. We have three challenging games in a five-day stretch and each one requires us to play very well."
 
NSU continues its travels with visits to Oklahoma Tuesday night and Utah on Wednesday, wrapping up its 11-game slate of non-conference contests. The Southland Conference season opens with three road games, the first Dec. 28 at Nicholls.
 
The Demons are the fourth-youngest team in major college basketball, with six freshmen and eight newcomers on the roster. McConathy has played a dozen players before halftime in each game with 11 players averaging between 11 and 26 minutes per game.
 
Jalan West, NSU's senior point guard, tops the team with an 11.2 scoring average while making 47 percent of his 3-pointers and issuing 4.6 assists per game against only 1.2 turnovers. Senior swingman Iziahiah Sweeney is scoring 10.8 per game while junior center Ishmael Lane averages 10.3 points and a team-best 6.3 rebounds.
 
NSU's much-improved play recently began with a dominating 76-61 win at UL Monroe. The only loss in the stretch was a hard-fought 72-60 decision at Colorado State.
 
Admission Saturday is $10 for adults, $5 for students. Children 12 and under are free. One ticket covers admission to any or all of the three games.
 
Online purchases can be made through the shreveportbossierholidayc.simpletix.com website.