Myles Hutchinson earned his first-career start at ACU last Wednesday.
LAKE CHARLES – McNeese returns home to the H&HP Arena on Saturday afternoon fresh off its first Southland Conference win of the season after downing previously league unbeaten and defending SLC tournament champion Abilene Christian.
The Cowboys will look to build on that win and momentum into Saturday's intra-state and conference rival Northwestern State.
The contest will be the second of a double-header with a girls' matchup between the two schools beginning at 1.
In the 88-84 win over ACU, McNeese (6-9, 1-3) was led in scoring by A.J. Lawson's career-high mark of 35 points while Sha'markus Kennedy notched his fifth double-double of the season with 24 points and 11 rebounds.
The Cowboys knocked down a season-high 63 percent from the field including a whopping 71 percent in the second half.
For the season, Lawson has taken over the scoring lead with a 16.3 average while Kennedy follows at 16.0 to go along with his team-best 8.9 rebounding mark. Three-point sharp-shooter Dru Kuxhausen is sinking 15.4 points per game and continues to lead the NCAA in threes made with 63 while ranking second in the nation in three-point percentage (.508) and three-pointers made per game (4.2).
Roydell Brown (7.9 ppg, 6.8 rpg) and Myles Hutchinson, who earned his first career start at ACU and played 34 minutes, are expected to round out the starting five.
The Demons (6-8, 3-2) have won four of their last five games and are off to their best league start in five years.
NSU held off a UIW rally last Wednesday to win 72-66 on the road for its first win away from home this season.
The Demons have two players averaging double-figures on the season – Chudier Bile (12.9) and Jairus Roberson (10.2).
Saturday's game will be the 127th all-time meeting in the series with McNeese holding a 64-62 edge. NSU won both meetings last year – 66-61 in Natchitoches and 74-72 in Lake Charles. They'll meet up again in Natchitoches on Feb. 15.
