By Jonathan Zenk, Northwestern State Assistant Director of Communications; featured photo by Emmanuel Pepis, UNO Athletics
NEW ORLEANS—In the most complete performance of the season, the Northwestern State men’s basketball team started lightning fast and exploded to a 92-67 Southland Conference victory at New Orleans at Lakefront Arena.
NSU (5-13, 3-2) sprinted out to a 19-4 advantage early en route to a 44-18 halftime lead, thanks to 55 percent shooting and holding a UNO (7-11, 2-3) team that averages 75.4 points per game to its second-lowest scoring half of the season.
The victory was the third straight for the Demons and first road win for head coach Rick Cabrera.
“I am really proud of these guys,” Cabrera said. “I told the guys this week that we won’t win many games if we don’t defend and don’t rebound. In our last four games, we have held our opponents under 40 percent shooting and we have won three of those and could have beaten McNeese as well.”
The 25-point win is also the largest win on the road in conference play since 1988 when the Demons dominated Nicholls 92-65.
In the 2023 meeting in New Orleans, the Demons rolled to a 23-point road victory.
The Demons started the game with a triple from Braelon Bush, as NSU made 10 of its first 11 shots to produce the early 15-point lead.
J.C. Riley scored six of the first 19 points for the Demons, with Cliff Davis and Chase Forte both adding four points.
Riley filled the stat sheet, finishing the game with eight points on 4-of-5 shooting, six rebounds, three blocks and two steals.
Justin Wilson added 11 of his game-high 18 points in the second half, as Wilson recorded his first career double-double, posting career-highs in both points (18) and rebounds (11).
“Wilson was phenomenal,” Cabrera said. “I have been waiting for his breakout game. He played like a grown man. He was scoring on put backs and dunks set up by Braelon. He was doing it all.”
Bush dished out a game-high seven assists. As a team, the Demons recorded 14 assists on 34 made field goals.
While the offense was humming along, the defense was stifling. NSU held the Privateers to just eight made field goals in the first half.
More impressively, the defense held Jordan Johnson, the nation’s fourth-leading scorer (22.4 ppg) to zero points on just 0-of-4 shooting. Whenever the ball was in his hands, the Demons defense threw multiple defenders at him.
The plan worked to perfection.
Johnson tried to force the action in the second half, scoring all 13 of his points, but the NSU defense held him to just 5-of-17 shooting.
“Chase Forte did a phenomenal job on Jordan,” Cabrera said. “Yes, it was a team effort to stop him, but Chase did a great job as the primary defender. We did a great job attacking him and the guys followed the scouting report and executed it well.”
In the second half, UNO used a 13-4 run to cut the deficit to 54-39, but that was as close as the Privateers came, as the Demons countered with an 18-4 spurt to blow the game back wide open.
“Letting teams back in after a fast start has been an Achilles heel for us this season,” Cabrera said. “When they started coming back and cut it to 15 in the second half, we didn’t get rattled and didn’t panic. We were able to return a punch and take back control.”
NSU’s offense was relentless all game long, as it shot even better in the second half at 57 percent for a field goal percentage of 56 percent.
Four Demons hit double figures, led by Wilson’s 18. Bush scored 16, Cliff Davis dropped 16 and Chase Forte chipped in with 10.
NSU finishes off its first full road weekend in conference play with a trip to Southeastern Louisiana on Monday evening. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m.