When No. 15 Houston returns home after an up-and-down showing and third-place finish at the Maui Invitational in Las Vegas to host Northwestern State on Tuesday
KATY, Texas â Northwestern State menâs basketball coach Mike McConathy has preached âwe not meâ throughout the 2020-21 season.
His fourth-seeded Demons paid back his belief in that philosophy Thursday evening in the Southland Conference Tournament quarterfinals, using a plethora of key contributions to hang for an 82-79 win against fifth-seeded New Orleans at the Leonard E. Merrell Center.
âWe played against an extremely difficult team to play,â said McConathy, who improved to 19-9 in SLC Tournament games. âThey are extremely athletic. They do a great job in so many areas offensively and defensively. I was proud of the guys because, at the end, when things got a little hairy and we didnât make some shots we needed to, we were able to have enough in us to hold onto the win. Iâm really pleased with the effort of all the guys on the floor, on the bench, everywhere.â
NEW ORLEANS â Two big runs cost the Northwestern State menâs basketball team Wednesday night.
New Orleans opened the second half of a scoring binge and used another midway through the second half and grabbed a 92-83 victory against the Demons in Southland Conference action inside Lakefront Arena.
âWe played really well in the first half,â 22nd-year head coach Mike McConathy said. âWe felt pretty good, but there is nothing less important than the score at halftime. We just didnât play. They were tougher than us.
The Demons (9-17, 8-7) surrendered a 12-point first-half lead by allowing the Privateers (8-14, 7-7) to shoot 57.9 percent from the field in the second half.