NATCHITOCHES – Fresh, healthy and hungry.
 
That's how one could describe the Northwestern State men's basketball team as it attempts to win its fourth straight game Saturday with McNeese visiting Prather Coliseum for a 3 p.m. contest.
 
The Demons (11-12, 8-6 Southland Conference) sit in a tie for fifth place with Central Arkansas (9-16, 8-6 SLC). Both teams won Wednesday to jump idle McNeese (12-12, 7-6), who is on a three-game skid that snapped a seven-game winning the streak.
 
The game is part of a basketball doubleheader with the women (1 p.m. start) with all basketball alumni invited to come enjoy a pregame meal (11:30 a.m.) in the Prather concourse.
 
NSU is coming off a 70-60 win against Incarnate Word in which only one player (Trenton Massner) played more than 23 minutes.
 
"With McNeese coming off a bye on Wednesday, spreading our minutes out (vs. UIW), so we'll be a lot more fresh for Saturday," said NSU coach Mike McConathy. "We got offense from a lot of different places, which is also important.
 
"Sometimes people ask me why I play so many guys, and this is one of those benefits. We've 11-13 guys with significant experience, and we're able to spread minutes out at a point in the season in which wear down can be a factor. This point in the season with six games left, there can be a lull."
 
Balanced scoring was another facet of NSU's second straight home win, which helped put a three-game losing streak in the rearview mirror earlier this season.
 
Nine different Demons scored at least five points with six of those scoring seven points or more. Massner led the charge with 12 points and six rebounds.
 
"We're a really deep team, and we're getting stuff from guys who might have struggled at the beginning of the year," Massner said. "A guy like Brian White had a huge game at HBU (23 points), and he's working back from that (groin) injury.
 
"We've had guys like Chudier Bile and Nikos Chougkaz who've been consistent each night for us, and on any night, we have lot of different guys who can have big games. That's a big advantage."
 
The Demons topped third-place ACU (73-69) at home before knocking off HBU (93-79) on the road to start the winning streak before Wednesday's home victory against UIW.
 
NSU was missing three key pieces when McNeese won the first game of the series Jan. 11 in Lake Charles.
 
The Demons were without point guards White and John Norvel along with Chougkaz as McNeese took advantage on the interior in an 85-76 win.
NSU is healthy with the exception of senior LaTerrance Reed, who hasn't played since Dec. 8 after entering the season as the leading returning scorer.
 
But six of the top seven Demons in terms of scoring are newcomers, led by Bile (13.6 points per game) and Jairus Roberson (10.7 per game).
 
White (8.2 points per game) is the lone returner in that group of top scorers, and the Natchitoches native has revved his offensive output up with 30 points in the past two games.
 
"It feels good to get back to 100 percent," said White, who missed three games earlier this season with a groin injury. "I missed games or played through some discomfort in games.
 
"It's hard to play but when you get that confidence back, get back to 100 percent, it's feeling like a good flow again."
 
A win Saturday would go a long way in securing an SLC Tournament berth as the Demons lead eighth-place Lamar (6-8 SLC) and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (6-8 SLC) by two games. A victory also keeps NSU in the bye conversation just two games behind second-place Nicholls (10-4 SLC), who visits Natchitoches on Wednesday to close out a three-game homestand.