MONROE – After nine days without playing a game, the Northwestern State men's basketball team returns to action Tuesday night against longtime rival ULM.
 
Although the nine-day break between games was centered around a holiday that is synonymous with overeating, the Demons enter Tuesday's 6:30 p.m. tipoff in Fant-Ewing Coliseum a hungry bunch. The game will air on ESPN+/
 
"It's nine days (Monday) of not playing a game," first-year head coach Rick Cabrera said. "We got a lot of good practice time in, a lot of time to learn and reflect. Even though we've lost five in a row, I think we've improved. We have to jell together and get ready to play a good ULM team."
 
The Demons (1-5) have not played since falling 78-75 to Presbyterian on Nov. 18, seeing a last-minute rally comeback fall just short for the second straight night. NSU will be the much more rested team as the Warhawks (2-3) dropped a 70-57 decision at SMU on Sunday.
 
The nine days between games matches the longest break of the season, which also comes between a Dec. 19 home game against Southern-New Orleans and a Dec. 29 road game at LSU. Despite the layoff, the Demons say they don't believe they have to shake off much rust.
 
"We made sure we stayed active," senior forward Justin Wilson said. "We had days where we had extra activities to do. We might not have liked it, but it was beneficial."
 
The Demons and Warhawks, former Southland Conference rivals, are meeting for the 130^th time overall and have played at least once in each of the past 12 seasons dating to the 2011-12 campaign.
 
NSU's new-look roster, which returns only one player from the 2022-23 squad, already has faced one of the Demons' longest-running rivals, squaring off against Stephen F. Austin in Natchitoches on Nov. 13.
 
"I'll be honest, anything within an hour and a half or two hours, I don't have to have lived in a state to know that (importance)," Cabrera said. "We're just excited to play. I approach it as another game, another chance to get better.  I don't talk to our guys about we have to win, or this is a must-win. That's not how we do things. We get better and let things work themselves out.
 
"It is a rivalry game in regard to tradition. We're in different conferences now, but we're excited to have a chance to play another game and get better."
 
It also gives Cabrera and his staff a chance to see the fruits of their Thanksgiving labor come to fruition, especially on the offensive end.
 
Both the Demons (42.4 percent from the field) and Warhawks (41.3 percent) are looking to take steps forward there.
 
"We have to find ways to score, shoot the basketball and make shots," he said. "That comes with reps and with inner confidence. We worked a lot on that in the 10 days we had to practice. Hopefully, they start falling for us (Tuesday) and not for them."