After three games against mid- and high-major competition to open the slate, the Northwestern State men’s basketball team returns home to Mike McConathy Court at Prather Coliseum to face Division III member Millsaps in the first meeting between the programs.
Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. tonight with the game airing on ESPN+. It also marks the beginning of the Northwestern State’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee’s food drive to benefit the Natchitoches food pantry.
“It was a gauntlet of a three-game road swing,” fourth-year head coach Rick Cabrera said of opening the season against Baylor, Mississippi State and Murray State. “We don’t cry about spilled milk. I scheduled it that way, and I think we learned a lot about what it takes to be locked in every possession, every game, to try to win on the road.”
The Demons (0-3) enter Tuesday’s matchup as the higher-division team for the first time this season.
The three-game road trip allowed Northwestern to see how it measured up against teams with superior size.
“I’ll be honest, going into those games, I thought our frontcourt would have an issue, because they’re on the smaller end of those bigger guys,” Cabrera said. “They held their own. DT (Dionjahe Thomas) and Kordrick (Turner) rebounded at a high clip. Kordrick scored when he was able to score. Kordrick made the passes out of the post against the bigger guys. DT had some spots where he’s getting to that next level of what we expect from him.”
Turner, a senior from Sulphur Springs, Texas, matched his career high with eight rebounds in Saturday’s loss at Murray State, the preseason Missouri Valley Conference favorite, while adding a season-best eight points on 4-for-6 shooting.
Millsaps (2-0) swept two games at the Rhodes College Classic in Memphis, Tennessee, scoring wins against Eureka College and Austin College by an average of 21.5 points.
NO. 22 OKLAHOMA STATE 94, NSU WOMEN 56: KP Parr and Karma Wynn combined for 29 points, but Northwestern could not overcome hot shooting from No. 22 Oklahoma State Monday afternoon at Gallagher-Iba Arena.
After holding its first two opponents under 40 percent shooting, NSU (1-2) could not stop a strong shooting performance from OSU (3-0), which shot 56.4 percent from the field and 12-of-25 from 3-point range.
“KP and Karma showed tremendous grit tonight, combining for 29 points and proving our backcourt can produce against high-level length and pressure,” NSU coach Alan Frey said. “Offensively, we did some really positive things that we can build on, especially considering
Oklahoma State features several genuine WNBA prospects on their roster.
“However, giving up 94 points is nowhere near our defensive standard. They exposed our rotations and beat us on straight-line drives. We will take this film, coach up the defensive lapses, and ensure we lock down the details required to compete at a championship level as we move forward.”
After scoring a career-high 20 points last game at Arkansas, Parr poured in 18 more points to lead NSU.
Parr, a junior from Waco, Texas, was held scoreless in the first quarter before scoring 11 in the second quarter, including three 3-pointers. After NSU cut it to 28-21 on a triple from Parr, the Cowgirls ended the half on a 16-2 run to go up 44-23 at halftime.
NSU makes a trip to in-state rival Louisiana Tech on Thursday evening before coming back home for a matchup with LSU-Shreveport on Monday.