NW State, McNeese St. meet in conference play

Northwestern State (6-8, 3-2) vs. McNeese State (6-9, 1-3)

H&HP Complex, Lake Charles, Louisiana; Saturday, 4:30 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Southland foes meet as Northwestern State faces McNeese State. Both teams earned road victories on Wednesday. McNeese State earned an 88-84 win over Abilene Christian, while Northwestern State emerged with a 72-66 win at Incarnate Word.

LEADING THE CHARGE: McNeese State’s Sha’markus Kennedy has averaged 16 points, 8.9 rebounds and three blocks while A.J. Lawson has put up 16.3 points. For the Demons, Chudier Bile has averaged 12.9 points and 6.9 rebounds while Nikos Chougkaz has put up 9.3 points and 6.2 rebounds.

SOUTHLAND IMPROVEMENT: The Demons have scored 77.2 points per game and allowed 73 points per game in conference play thus far. Those are both significant improvements over the 61.3 points scored and 83.2 points allowed per game to non-conference opponents.CLUTCH CHUDIER: Bile has connected on 28.6 percent of the 35 3-pointers he’s attempted and has made 3 of 12 over his last five games. He’s also made 70.4 percent of his foul shots this season.

WINLESS WHEN: The Demons are 0-5 when they score 63 points or fewer and 6-3 when they exceed 63 points. The Cowboys are 0-9 when they fail to score more than 80 points and 6-0 on the season, otherwise.

UNDEFEATED WHEN: Northwestern State is a perfect 5-0 when it holds an opponent to 66 points or fewer. The Demons are 1-8 when opponents score more than 66.

DID YOU KNOW: The McNeese State offense has scored 81.7 points per game this season, ranking the Cowboys 13th among Division 1 teams. The Northwestern State defense has allowed 74.4 points per game to opponents (ranked 253rd).