NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State senior swingman Zeek Woodley , the Demons' leading scorer for the past three seasons, may be sidelined for 6-8 weeks due to a broken wrist suffered in the first half of Monday night's 100-93 loss at Rice.



Demons' head coach Mike McConathy said Woodley, a 6-2 senior who is 70 points away from becoming NSU's all-time scoring leader, will have surgery Friday, a procedure that should improve chances for a faster recovery and return for one of the most dynamic scorers and accurate shooters in college basketball.



Woodley hurt his right (shooting) wrist when fouled on a driving layup late in the first half, landing on the wrist when knocked to the floor, but remained in the game and scored 10 second-half points in a 20-point outing, the 48th career 20-point outing for him.



"He missed a free throw, so we knew something was wrong," said McConathy. "It's not exactly the Christmas present that he or I or our team was looking for, but we'll get through this and hopefully he'll be back with us very soon."



Woodley, who was shooting 88 percent at the free throw line this season, made a steal and drove for a layup, was fouled, and regained his feet holding his wrist with 53 seconds left in the half. He waved off the bench when McConathy tried to substitute for him, and played after halftime with tape on the wrist.



"My mom said if you don't hurt too bad, so you can't pick up a ball, just keep on playing. I didn't know it was going to be that serious," said Woodley. "I thought it was a little sprain or something, but it turned out to be broken. It is what it is."



Woodley is averaging 17.6 points this season and 19.2 in 101 career games, the seventh-best career scoring average in major college basketball. The Pelican-All Saints product ranks fourth nationally in career scoring (1,940 points), 26th in field goal percentage (55.8), 41st in free throw aim (83.6) and has made 41 percent of his career 3-point shots with averaging 4.7 rebounds as a Demon.



His career shooting aim gives him a "shooting score" of 181, combining percentages of field goals, 3-pointers and free throws. As a barometer, only seven players in NBA history – Larry Bird, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Reggie Miller, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitski, and Mark Price – have posted combined 180 shooting scores over a season.



NSU plays its final non-conference game next Wednesday night at home against Louisiana College, then opens the 18-game Southland Conference season in Prather Coliseum next Saturday afternoon against McNeese.



"Hopefully it will heal quickly. I've just got to stay positive. I have faith in the team," said Woodley. "My best friends, Sabri (Thompson) and Tra'von (Joseph), are the seniors who have to lead them until I get back. We can be a good team. They can get better, get better chemistry, while I'm gone."



McConathy, whose "wave" substitution patterns during his 18 seasons at NSU typically results in 10-12 players in action each game, believes the system should help the Demons adjust faster to compensate for Woodley's loss.



"Everybody's got to step up. We have to have good play out of Reggie (Kissoonlal), who had a great game at Rice. We need additional buckets from Tra'von Joseph , who is very capable but hasn't been expected to score a lot. We've gotten much better play from Malik Metoyer , along with Iziahiah Sweeney . This is opportunity for Jordan Bell , Tanner Hamilton , Jacob Guest , guys who can really shoot the basketball. Bailey Walker showed last year he can rise up and make an impact offensively. You don't know where it might come from, and we're hopeful they'll help make us successful.



"It's a great opportunity for Ishmael Lane to become more of an offensive threat because there will be more shots available, and we'll work extremely hard continuing to expand his impact," said McConathy. "Because of the system we use, a lot of guys get into the games and so the adjustment isn't having to go from zero to 60, but rather just expanding their roles."



The injury is the second in as many seasons suffered by NSU's best player. In the 2015-16 season opener, senior point guard Jalan West suffered a knee injury that ended his season. The Demons, projected to challenge for the Southland Conference title, swooned to an 8-20 season.



"Going through what we did a year ago with Jalan probably does put us in a better mental frame to deal with this kind of injury. It's really hard to replace players like Jalan West and Zeek Woodley , who are undoubtedly two of the very best players ever at Northwestern," said McConathy. "But this time we expect Zeek to get back out there hopefully sooner than later."



For now, Woodley will join West in street clothes on the NSU bench, contributing in other ways.



"It's going to be tough because this is my last year, and I just want to play, but I have to wait patiently," he said. "I'm going to try to be like J-West, be a little coach on the sideline and help that way."

