NACOGDOCHES, Texas – As the Northwestern State men's basketball team begins its longest road trip of the Southland Conference season, it does so against a familiar face that is in an unfamiliar situation.
 
The Demons open a three-game swing through Texas with a 5 p.m. Saturday matchup at Stephen F. Austin on ESPN+. It will be the first game for the homestanding Lumberjacks since announcing the departure of head coach Kyle Keller earlier this week.
 
"Kyle's a good friend as well as (interim head coach) Tony (Jasick)," second-year head coach Rick Cabrera said. "I feel awful for them, but we've got a basketball game to play. Tony has great experience. He's been a head coach for 10 years. I don't anticipate them changing too much up."
 
For the Demons (8-10, 5-3), anticipating a lack of change from Stephen F. Austin (8-11, 1-7) means facing a defensive-focused team that leads the Southland in field goal percentage defense (40 percent) and ranks second in the league in both scoring defense (64.8 points per game) and forcing turnovers (14.6 per game).
 
The Demons got a taste of a pressing defense in their most recent game – a 73-61 win against New Orleans this past Monday in Natchitoches. Northwestern committed 13 turnovers against the Privateers, right in line with its season average.
 
"I told our guys, 'This is the most physical team you're going to play, including high majors,'" Cabrera said. "That's been their staple. We have to have just as much physicality as they have. I don't ever like to match anyone's physicality. I want them to match ours. Our assistant coaches are doing a great job of showing film so they can understand what they're going to be up against on the defensive end."
 
The Demons tightened up their defense in the second half against New Orleans to turn a nine-point halftime deficit into their first double-figure win of Southland Conference play. Northwestern's 12-point win against the Privateers came after its first four SLC wins came by a combined 19 points.
 
The first two of those four league wins came on the road Dec. 5 and 7 at UIW and Houston Christian, respectively. In Cabrera's first season at Northwestern, the Demons went 3-6 away from home in conference play.
 
"To be a good team in this league, you have to win road games," Cabrera said. "So far, we've done those things. Even in the non-conference, we've played well on the road – just not completely for 40 minutes. We've showed spurts where we can play in a different atmosphere and not be affected by it. We have to continue to focus on us and doing things we do correctly on a consistent basis.
 
"Being out of our comfort zone is fine for us. I don't expect any different effort being on the road. I love road games, and our guys like road games. We're going out to go win this one."
 
The Demons have seen a shift in how they have started games recently.
 
In each of the past three games, Northwestern has faced a double-figure deficit in the first half. Twice, the Demons have rallied to take a second-half lead, including Monday's win against New Orleans.
 
"We have our moments when we're tough and get after it," Cabrera said. "We have our moments when we're not a ball club I know I'm coaching. We have to get better and be more consistent about being tough and being disciplined. We're getting there."