Demon Basketball | 11/12/2018 4:00:00 PM

PROVO, Utah – Better rebounding and a faster tempo are keys Tuesday night for Northwestern State as the Demon basketball team visits Brigham Young in the opening game of the Men Against Breast Cancer Cougar Cup series.
 
NSU will play at Rice (Saturday), Houston (next Monday) and host Alabama A&M (Friday, Nov. 23) in other contests in the multi-team event.
 
Tip time is 8 p.m. CST for the first meeting between NSU and BYU since 1994, an 80-53 win for the Cougars. The Demons edged the Cougars 59-57 on a buzzer-beating shot in the 1949 NAIA quarterfinals in the first-ever matchup.
 
The game will be carried on BYUtv, which is available on satellite carriers and many cable providers. The Demon Sports Network radio broadcast by Patrick Netherton will be carried on 100.7 FM KZBL in Natchitoches, and on NSUDemons.com and is available through the Northwestern State Demons app.
 
The Demons and Cougars are both 1-1, having dropped road games and won at home. NSU blasted Division III Centenary 102-62 last Tuesday, and fell 69-58 last Thursday at SMU. BYU dropped its opener at No. 6 Nevada 86-70, then held off Utah Valley at home last Friday 75-65.
 
Mike McConathy, early in his 20^th season as NSU's coach, couldn't employ his standard wave substitutions at SMU since sprained ankles and other personnel issues shortened his bench to four players. The Demons expect to get sophomore center Larry Owens back at BYU and might see true freshman point guard Brian White open his college career.
 
Having only nine players able at SMU forced McConathy away from man-to-man defensive pressure, pushing him to play mostly zone combinations. That led to a decisive shortfall.
 
"We didn't rebound well enough out of the zone," he said. "We gave up too many offensive rebounds and they scored 13 points on their offensive rebounds. We lost by 11."
 
To have success against a taller BYU team, McConathy believes the Demons need to raise the tempo.
 
"We've got to get the ball up and down the floor like we did in our opener. We've got to take opportunities that will come at a faster pace, in transition, and those that can be created with pressure defense," he said.
 
SMU had a taller lineup than BYU, said McConathy, but the Cougars "have size and shoot the ball extremely, extremely well.
 
"It's an experienced team, mainly juniors, and of course they're well coached. I have a lot of respect for Coach (Dave) Rose, not only because of the way he teaches the game, but how he conducts himself and runs that program."
 
Rose is in his 13^th season. He was co-captain of the famous "Phi Slama Jama" Houston Cougars team that played for the 1983 national championship.
 
The Demons rely on senior center Ishmael Lane, who had 24 points and 13 rebounds at SMU. He has averages of 19.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, 3.5 blocks and is making 54 percent of his shots, including half of eight 3-pointers.

"Ish played with great passion at SMU, and if he will continue that, and I expect he will, it will rub off on the other players," said McConathy. "He was the best player in that game for either team. Getting Larry back means we won't have to play Ish for 38 minutes and with fresher legs, we're hoping he could be even more effective."
 
Junior transfers John Norvel (11.0) and LaTerrance Reed (10.0) are averaging in double digits.
 
The Demons have held their first two foes to 36 percent shooting aim.
 
The Cougars have three primary scorers: 6-8 junior forward Yoeli Childs (18.0), 6-4 junior guard T.J. Haws (14.0) and 6-0 junior guard Jahshire Hardnett (13.0). Childs is averaging 13.5 rebounds.