LOUISIANA TECH 2023-24 BULLDOG BASKETBALL GAME 30 MATCHUP
GAMEDAY INFO DATE/TIME: Saturday, March 9 | 2 p.m. CT LOCATION: Thomas Assembly Center (Ruston, La.) SERIES HISTORY: LA Tech leads, 14-7 STREAK: LA Tech, 1 LAST MEETING: Jan. 11, 2024 | Murfreesboro, Tenn. LA Tech 60, Middle Tennessee 52 MEDIA: ESPN+ TALENT: Lyn Rollins (pxp), Victor Howell (analyst) RADIO: LA Tech Sports Network | LA Tech Athletics app TALENT: Malcolm Butler (pxp), Jack Thigpen (analyst) STATS: LATechSports.com/Stats
2023-24 SCHEDULE MEDIA MWN ESPN+ ESPN+ ESPN+ ESPN+ ESPN+ MWN
Head Coach: Talvin Hester Record at LA Tech: 36-27 (2nd year) Career Record: Same Record vs. MTSU: 1-2
AP Poll: NR USA Today Poll: NR NET Ranking: 89
VS MIDDLE TENNESSEE BLUE RAIDERS (13-17, 7-8 cusa) Head Coach: Nick McDevitt Record at MTSU: 82-104 (6th year) Career Record: 180-170 (11th year) Record vs. LA Tech: 2-3
AP Poll: NR USA Today Poll: NR NET Ranking: 290
BULLDOG STORYLINES
Overall: 21-9 | CUSA: 11-4 | H: 13-2 | A: 8-7 | N: 0-0 NOVEMBER 6 at Colorado State 13 LYON COLLEGE 16 at ULM 21 SOUTHERN UTAH^ 22 MCNEESE STATE^ 25 DILLARD 29 at New Mexico
LOUISIANA TECH BULLDOGs (21-9, 11-4 cusa)
W/L L W W W W W L
SCORE 73-81 100-43 73-63 67-53 71-62 105-65 65-74
DECEMBER 2 NICHOLLS ESPN+ W 68-55 5 at Stephen F. Austin ESPN+ W 56-49 9 UL-LAFAYETTE ESPN+ W 72-67 12 SOUTHEASTERN ESPN+ W 89-60 16 at Saint Louis ESPN+ L 74-75 20 at Seattle U ESPN+ L 73-79OT 30 at Grand Canyon ESPN+ L 70-73
• The regular season finale for Louisiana Tech is set for Saturday at 2 p.m. versus Middle Tennessee inside the Thomas Assembly Center on Karl Malone Court. It will be Senior Day as LA Tech will honor three Bulldogs -- Tahlik Chavez, Dravon Mangum, and Tyler Henry -- as well as graduate manager Travis Spivey. • With the loss to Sam Houston, LA Tech has locked itself into the No. 2 seed for the CUSA Basketball Championship. A win on Saturday, coupled with a loss by Sam Houston, would give the Bulldogs a share of the CUSA regular season title. • LA Tech had its five-game winning streak come to an end Thursday, falling 72-66 to Sam Houston at the TAC. Down 18 with five minutes to go, the Bulldogs went on a furious 17-2 run to get to within one possession, but the Bearkats were able to put the game away at the free throw line. • When the Bulldogs hold teams under 70 points, history says they win (19-1 when doing so). Sam Houston was able to crack that barrier in Thursday night’s contest. Despite that, the Bulldogs still rank seventh in the country in field goal percentage defense, allowing teams to shoot just 39.1 percent. They have held eight CUSA opponents under 60 points (out of 15 games) while ranking 14th in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 64.2 points per game.
• LA Tech’s rim protection was present again on Thursday, registering six blocks versus the Bearkats. The Bulldogs now have 154 blocks on the season, the fifth most in program history and tied for the 19th most in the country. They have recorded at least five rejections in a single game 17 JANUARY times including eight of the last nine. Daniel Batcho and Isaiah Crawford each had three blocks. 3 DALLAS CHRISTIAN ESPN+ W 96-55 The duo has combined for 116 of those rejections, ranking one-two in CUSA in blocks per game 6 at Sam Houston* ESPN+ L 77-81 -- Batcho at 2.42 (eighth in the country) and Crawford at 1.77 (49th in the country). 11 at Middle Tennessee* CBS SN W 60-52 14 LIBERTY* ESPN2 W 80-76OT • Daniel Batcho tallied a game-high 20 points on 9-of-11 shooting against Sam Houston, marking 20 at Jacksonville State* ESPN+ W 74-57 his fifth 20-point scoring game of the season. He also pulled down a game-high nine rebounds. 25 UTEP* ESPN+ W 68-54 The forward is nearly averaging a double-double at 14.7 points and 9.9 boards per contest. 27 NEW MEXICO STATE* ESPN+ W 73-53 • Isaiah Crawford is playing some of his best basketball right now, averaging 19.8 points and 6.8 rebounds over his last five games. He posted 16 points versus the Bearkats, extending his streak of FEBRUARY games with double-digit points to 10 (has scored in double figures in 19 of the last 20 games). He 1 at FIU* ESPN+ W 93-53 is currently averaging 17.8 points during conference play, which is tops in the league. 7 WKU* ESPN+ L 76-81 10 at Liberty* ESPNU L 62-65 • Dravon Mangum was one of five players announced to the 2023-24 Conference USA All-Aca15 JACKSONVILLE STATE* ESPN+ W 63-58 demic Team. Mangum carries a 3.60 cumulative grade point average while pursuing his master’s 17 FIU* ESPN+ W 75-68 degree in Counseling and Guidance. He became the first Bulldog since Mubarak Muhammed in 22 at UTEP* ESPN+ W 65-59 2020 to receive this academic honor. 24 at New Mexico State* ESPN+ W 67-58 28 at WKU* ESPN+ W 90-84 • Isaiah Crawford (492), Tahlik Chavez (396), and Daniel Batcho (382) have combined to score 56.7 percent of LA Tech’s points this season. They are close to becoming just the second Bulldog trio since 2015 to each record 400+ points in a single season (last ones to do that were Kenneth MARCH Lofton Jr., Amorie Archibald, and Keaston Willis in 2021-22). 7 SAM HOUSTON* CBS SN L 66-72 9 MIDDLE TENNESSEE* ESPN+ 2 p.m. 13 CUSA Championship$ ESPN+ TBA • Would give the Bulldogs their 15th win ever over the Blue Raiders. LA Tech is 9-2 all-time against All home games CAPS | All times CST and subject to change Middle Tennessee in Ruston. * Conference USA game • Would give the Bulldogs their 14th home win of the season. It would mark the ninth time in the ^ LA Tech MTE last 12 seasons that LA Tech records at least 14 home victories. $ Huntsville, Ala. • Would close out the Bulldogs conference record at 12-4. LA Tech has won at least 12 CUSA games in seven of its 10 seasons in the league.
A LA TECH WIN...
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