BATON ROUGE – Northwestern State coach Mike McConathy highlights lists of areas in which his team is working to improve as the Demons are still mixing in eight newcomers with seven returners.

But seven games into this season, one dimension that's been relatively consistent has been NSU's defense.

The Demons are forcing opponents to shoot 41 percent from the field, which is on pace to be the lowest in McConathy's 21 seasons.

That facet will be put to the test Sunday against an LSU team that is making 51 percent of its shots in its first eight games, ranking ninth nationally.

The 3 p.m. contest at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center will be broadcast on the SEC Network and available on radio (96.5 FM) and audio streaming (nsudemons.com).

"We're making defensive adjustments," McConathy said. "We probably should have played more zone in the second half against SMU (on Tuesday) because they were dribble-driving us and taking us to the hole.

"We're trying to understand ourselves defensively and what our strengths and weaknesses are."

The Demons (2-5) are striving to improve overall defensively as opponents are averaging 72 points per game, a number McConathy might accept given the frenetic Tigers are scoring more than 82 points per game.

"Styles are important, but it's the players that make styles really effective," McConathy said as he contrasted LSU's up-tempo style with the more measured pace of SMU and ULM. "SMU and ULM had good players for their systems, and LSU has great players for its system.

"Coach Will Wade does a phenomenal job to get players into positions to make plays, so it's a real challenge."

LSU does its damage from inside the arc and at the free-throw line as the Tigers aim to exploit defenses in and around the paint.

But that's where NSU's defense has been the strongest despite being outsized in the majority of its matchups.

NSU's four blocks per game, led by junior Chudier Bile's 1.6 per game, rank 93^rd nationally and fourth in the Southland Conference.

Junior Jamaure Gregg contributes more than one block per game to assist in rim defense.

The piece which makes solid defense work, McConathy says, is effective rebounding.

The Demons have outrebounded or tied its opponent in four of seven games with a fifth effort against Rice (outrebounded by one). That includes matching Texas A&M and outrebounding ULM, both which have considerably more length than the Demons.

SMU topped NSU by 15 on the boards Tuesday in a 77-51 loss,

LSU is outrebounding opponents by eight.

"Defense and rebounding go hand in hand, and those are the building blocks you have to have in place to be successful," McConathy said. "We got outrebounded badly against SMU, and that's because our guards didn't rebound.

"You've got to go to the glass to rebound. If you don't go to the supper table, you're not going to get supper."

NSU's offense has flashed its potential in the early season, but the Demons struggled to make shots in its last the three games.

After making 33 percent from 3-point range over the first four contests, NSU is shooting just 22 percent from deep in the previous three games.

Overall, NSU's 40.5 percent shooting is one of McConathy's lowest.

"We've had some good moments and some really difficult moments," McConathy said. "The key is understanding what we need to do offensively in terms of knowing what a good shot and what a bad shot is.

"We have to allow ourselves to get others in position for shots because we don't have guys that can go create their own shots. But we can create shots if execute offensively, and that's a process that we're working toward."

McConathy has scored five wins against Power 5 schools in his tenure.

Aside from NSU's NCAA Tournament win against Iowa in 2006, his Demons have topped Auburn, Mississippi State, Oregon State and Oklahoma State.

The most recent Power 5 win came against Auburn in 2013-14.

In terms of program-defining moments, on Saturday 31 years ago, "some ole country boys" from Northwestern State knocked off Kentucky, 85-82, in 1988.