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Northwestern State Demons
Northwestern State Demons
	2024–25 Northwestern State Demons basketball team
University	Northwestern State University
First season	1976
All-time record	584–750 (.438)
Head coach	Rick Cabrera (2nd season)
Conference	Southland
Location	Natchitoches, Louisiana
Arena	Prather Coliseum ; (capacity: 3,900)
Nickname	Demons
Colors	Purple, white, and orange trim;
NCAA tournament round of 32
	2006
NCAA tournament appearances
	2001, 2006, 2013
Conference tournament champions
	2001, 2006, 2013
Conference regular season champions
	1922, 1940, 1949, 1954, 1955, 1958, 1960, 1974, 1975, 2005, 2006

The Northwestern State Demons basketball team is the men's basketball team that represents Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana, United States. The team currently competes in the Southland Conference and The Demons have appeared in the NCAA tournament three times, most recently in 2013.

History

Mike McConathy era (1999–2022)

Mike McConathy was hired in 1999. In his first season, the team went 17–13 and finished fourth in the Southland Conference.^[2]

In 2001, McConathy led the Demons to their first ever NCAA tournament appearance. The Demons won the first play in game after the NCAA expanded the men's tournament from 64 to 65 teams.^[3] The Demons defeated Winthrop in that game,^[4]^[5] before losing to Illinois in the next round.^[6]

In 2005, the Demons finished the season 21–12, 13–3 to win the Southland Conference regular season championship.^[7] However, the Demons 10-game winning streak was stopped by Southeastern Louisiana in the Southland tournament championship.^[8]^[9]

The Demons would repeat as Southland regular season champions the following year.^[10] This time, they defeated Sam Houston State in the Southland tournament championship to earn their second appearance in the NCAA tournament.^[11] In the NCAA tournament as a No. 14 seed, the Demons earned one of the biggest upsets in the tournament by beating No. 3-ranked Iowa 64–63 in the first round.^[12] Jermaine Wallace hit a three-pointer with less than a second left in the game to give the Demons the victory, their second in NCAA history.^[13] The Demons advanced to the second round where they lost to West Virginia 67–54.

After some disappointing seasons where they only finished above .500 twice, the Demons returned to prominence in the 2012–13 season when they went 23–9, 15–3 in Southland play to finish in second place.^[14] The Demons defeated Stephen F. Austin to win the Southland tournament championship and earn their third trip to the NCAA tournament.^[15]^[16]^[17] However, they lost to Florida in the second round (formerly and now known as the first round).^[18]^[19]

Postseason appearances

NCAA tournament

The Demons have appeared in the NCAA tournament three times. Their combined record is 2–3.^[20]

Year	Seed	Round	Opponent	Result
2001	No. 16	Opening round first round	No. 16 Winthrop No. 1 Illinois	W 71–67 L 54–96
2006	No. 14	First round second round	No. 3 Iowa No. 6 West Virginia	W 64–63 L 54–67
2013	No. 14	Second round	No. 3 Florida	L 47–79