NATCHITOCHES – The faces have changed and so have the stakes since Northwestern State and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi last met in a men's basketball game.
 
What has not changed for the Demons ahead of their 3 p.m. Saturday home Southland Conference matchup with the visiting Islanders is how they plan to attack their seventh game of the season. The game will air on ESPN+.
 
"We respect them as an opponent, but I feel we can win this game," junior guard Chase Forte said. "We play similar styles, so the toughest team is going to win."
 
The Demons (5-14, 3-3) saw their season-long, three-game win streak come to an end in a flurry of turnovers Monday night at Southeastern. Those 17 miscues and an 11-point deficit in points off turnovers helped the Lions hand NSU its first defeat of the season when outrebounding an opponent.
 
Northwestern State is 4-1 in games where they outrebound their opposition and are on a five-game run in which they either have outrebounded or been even on the glass. It is the longest run for a Demon team since a six-game run between Jan. 7-20, 2022.
 
In the Demons' first six conference games, NSU (5-14, 3-3) has a plus-2.8 rebound margin. In their 13 non-conference games, the Demons were outrebounded by an average of 7.8 per game.
 
The Islanders (11-8, 4-2) will pose a hefty challenge to that success as Texas A&M-Corpus Christi leads the Southland Conference in rebounds per game (41.5) and in rebounding margin (plus-7.5). Both marks place the Islanders in the top 22 nationally.
 
"Starting two bigs helps us," first-year head coach Rick Cabrera said. "Jimel (Lane) has rebounded well in conference, which he didn't do well in non-con. We do what we practice, and what we emphasize every day is rebounding the basketball. If you rebound the basketball, it doesn't guarantee you're going to win, but you'll be in position to win. Within conference, with the exception of one, for 40 minutes we were in position to win a game, and a lot of that is attributed to rebounding the basketball."
 
The Demons' stretch of three wins in four games also can be attributed to their defense.
 
NSU has held its past five opponents to 40.4 percent shooting or worse in each game. Through six conference games, Northwestern State ranks third in the Southland in opponent field goal percentage at .419. The team directly ahead of NSU? Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, which limits teams to 40.5 percent accuracy.
 
"Defense and rebounding will always be the staples of winning," Cabrera said. "We've done that. I'm proud to say – and I hope and pray we continue this – when you do that (defend) and rebound you give yourself a chance in the last two minutes. We did that against Southeastern. Transition buckets beat us that game. You regroup and try not to let that happen again."
  
As they do on the defensive end, the teams share similarities as well in other realms.
 
Both teams feature a pair of double-figure scorers and a host of others who can score in double figures on a given night. NSU has had 11 players post a double-figure scoring game this season with seven of those doing so in the first six Southland games.
 
Both teams also feature first-year head coaches in their first Division I head coaching gigs.
 
"(Islanders coach) Jim (Shaw) has done a great job with his team," Cabrera said. "He recruited some really good players. They play hard. They defend. They're big. They're tough. They're very balanced offensively. They don't have a guy who is going to score like a Jordan Johnson at New Orleans or someone like that, but you never know who's going to give you 15 or 18 on any night. That's a good thing.
 
"Cliff (Davis) hasn't been as dominant offensively for us as he was in non-con. That can be attributed to a couple of things. One, scouting in conference is different. Two, other guys are stepping up. We have a rotation. We have some continuity. That makes our team better. I'd love for Cliff to make every shot he shoots. When our team is balanced in scoring, we're a better team."