Tipoff between the Demons (1-1) and Huskies (0-4) is 7:45 in the second half of a doubleheader beginning with a 5:45 women's game between Northwestern and LSU-Shreveport. NSU won last year at Houston Baptist 84-76, knotting a series dating back to 1967-68 at 12-all.

The game broadcast will be available on the Demon Sports Network, flagshipped by 100.7 KZBL FM in Natchitoches and including 99.9 FM KTEZ in Many and 92.1 FM KSYR in Shreveport.

"They've played good competition, something we like to do as well. They'll get it up and down the floor and if they make shots they'll be difficult to deal with," said 11th-year Demons coach Mike McConathy. "What we try to do mirrors each other, getting baskets out of transition.  Ron Cottrell is an excellent coach guiding their transition back to Division I."

After opening with a win over East Texas Baptist on Nov. 13, the Demons played toe-to-toe with Texas Tech with five lead changes through a high-speed first half, but faded afterward in a 94-75 loss in Lubbock last Thursday.

"We need to build off the game at Texas Tech and hopefully play two halves, not just a good first 20 minutes," said McConathy. "We want to continue to make good decisions offensively and be a little stronger with the ball. Defensively, we need to contain and keep the other players in front of us. We have to guard them full court and yet not let them get behind us."

Senior guard Damon Jones leads Northwestern with a 15-point scoring average, while junior guards Devon Baker (12.5) and Dominic Knight (12.0) also score in double figures. The Demons are shooting 41 percent on 3-pointers (14-34) and 43 percent overall, but McConathy wants to see more inside offensive production. Texas Tech outscored NSU 52-18 in points in the paint.

"We spend a lot of time working on it. We are not getting enough inside scoring, and hopefully we'll improve on that," he said. "We'll have a challenge defending inside since they have a good  6-9 post player (Mario Flaherty, averaging team-high totals of 13.8 points and 10 rebounds per game)."

HBU has lost to South Alabama, Sacramento State, Rice and Michigan to begin the season.