NEW ORLEANS – The Northwestern State men's basketball team has found itself at home on the road in Southland Conference play this season.
 
The Demons tip off their final regular-season road trip of the year Saturday at 5 p.m. against New Orleans at Lakefront Arena on ESPN+ with a chance to post their second winning record in conference play in the past three seasons.
 
"Going on the road is always therapeutic for everybody – coaches included," second-year head coach Rick Cabrera said. "We get out of where we've been for the past few days and the past few weeks. We play pretty decent on the road, at least we have. Hopefully, we continue that."
 
The Demons (11-15, 8-8) have split their first eight conference road games, including a 72-60 win at Nicholls on Feb. 10 in their most recent away game.
 
Northwestern also enters Saturday's game seeking a season sweep of the Privateers (4-23, 2-14) after posting a 73-61 win in the teams' first meeting on Jan. 20.
 
In that game, Northwestern's Jekyll and Hyde sides surfaced. After falling behind by double digits in the first half, the Demons roared back to life in the second half.
 
In the month between meetings with the Privateers, Northwestern has continued its search for consistency from game to game and half to half.
 
"It's very rare to have two great halves," Cabrera said. "Let's just have a good half and a great half. You want the great one to be the second one in a perfect world. I told our guys we have to figure it out, and it's never too late to figure it out. Once we do that, we'll be fine.
 
"To figure it out, the defensive effort has to be there for 40 minutes. That's really the genesis stage of having two good halves – being elite on defense and taking good shots on offense."
In the first meeting between the teams, the Demons saved their best for the final 20 minutes of the game. After allowing New Orleans to shoot 60 percent from the 3-point line and build a nine-point halftime lead, Northwestern clamped down defensively in the final 20 minutes.
 
The Demons held the Privateers to 32.3-percent shooting from the field, including 1-for-13 from 3-point range in the second half.
 
Northwestern's win stopped a two-game win streak for the Privateers, who have dropped nine straight entering Saturday's second matchup of the season between the schools.
 
"They don't have the same guys, but they've been ultra-competitive with what they have," Cabrera said. "I think they're only playing around seven guys, but they were up 11 on Stephen F. (Austin) with about two or three minutes to go in the game. Certain guys are playing with elite confidence who probably weren't playing like that prior to their situation. We're not taking them lightly at all. I've talked to my guys about it. We're taking a business trip, they've been competitive and we're treating it as such."