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NATCHITOCHES, La. -- Trying to exorcise its own demons, among them a recurring propensity by key players to suffer injury, the University of the Incarnate Word men's basketball team takes a seven-hour bus ride to play the Demons of Northwestern State University on Wednesday night. Tipoff time is 6:30 p.m. (CT) at Prather Coliseum.
 
The Cardinals have been without the services of their starting point guard, Morgan Taylor, who was the team's leading scorer and leader in minutes played until he was injured in a mid-January game against Stephen F. Austin. He has not played since. Two games ago, the team's only senior, Charles Brown III, sustained an injury and missed Saturday's game with SFA. Brown is the team's second-leading scorer and its hottest shooter, hitting 55.1 percent of his field goal attempts.
 
To no extent is this a comprehensive list. With the injury bug biting relentlessly, only three members of the team have been available to play in all 27 of UIW's games.
 
Wednesday the Cardinals will rely on sophomore forward Christian Peevy, himself a returnee from an early-season injury. Peevy leads the team with a 12.6 points-per-game average and is also the squad's leading rebounder. He makes 52.9 percent of his field goal attempts and 86.2 percent of his free throws. He is a key contributor to UIW's position as college basketball's Division I leader in free throw percentage. The Cardinals are hitting 80.4 percent of their shots from the charity stripe.
 
UIW, which began the season with eight freshmen and four sophomores on a 15-player roster, will also rely on young players who, like Peevy, have become seasoned veterans. Sophomore wing Augustine Ene averages 9.6 points per game, buckets almost half of his shots from the floor (47.7 percent) and makes 86 percent of his free throws. Forward Antoine Smith Jr., and guards Dwight Murray Jr. and Jordan Caruso, are three freshmen who have been able to ward off the injury bug and mature on the court.

UIW is 6-21 overall and 1-13 in Southland Conference play. NSU is 10-17 and 5-9.
 
The Cardinals are undergoing a rebuilding process under the tutelage of first-year coach Dr. Carson Cunningham, who has experience in like endeavors. Cunningham took over a two-win Carroll College (Helena, Montana) program and in five years built it into a three-time NAIA tournament competitor. Cunningham's team made it to the tournament's round of eight twice and led the NAIA in both field goal and free throw percentage for three consecutive years.