LOUISIANA TECH 2025-26 BULLDOG BASKETBALL
All home games CAPS | All times CST and subject to change ^ LA Tech MTE * Conference USA game | $ Huntsville, Ala.
A LA TECH WIN... • Would give the Bulldogs their third win ever in the state of Indiana. The previous two came against teams from outside the state in neutral site games (James Madison, 1982, and Alcorn State, 1985). • Would give the Bulldogs their first road win of the season. LA Tech has only four non-conference road contests. • Would give Talvin Hester his 60th win as head coach, which would tie for the ninth most in program history.
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AT INDIANA STATE SYCAMORES (2-2) Head Coach: Matthew Graves Record at INST: 16-20 (2nd year) Career Record: 81-116 (7th year) Record vs. LA Tech: 0-0
AP Poll: NR Coaches Poll: NR NET Ranking: N/A
AP Poll: NR Coaches Poll: NR NET Ranking: N/A
BULLDOG STORYLINES & PROJECTED STARTERS
AJ BATES 10.0 ppg | 3.7 rpg | 6.0 apg
SCOOTER 8 WILLIAMS
• LA Tech locked in defensively and used a strong second half to pull away from Jackson State, earning a 68-51 victory this past Saturday inside the Thomas Assembly Center on Karl Malone Court. The Bulldogs held the Tigers to just 26.8 percent shooting from the field. JSU built a 25-17 lead with 7:28 to go in the first stanza, but LA Tech allowed just 26 total points the rest of the way, ultimately using a 13-2 run midway through the second half to put the game out of reach. It marked the ‘Dogs 13th straight win over the Tigers.
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• After a pair of home wins, Louisiana Tech hits the road again to face Indiana State. This is part of a home-and-home series with the Bulldogs turning around to face the Sycamores in Ruston one week later.
• The Bulldogs were relentless on the glass, outrebounding the Tigers 57-37. It marked the most boards in a single game since 2022 against Tennessee-Southern and the most against a DI opponent since 2006, which came against San Jose State. Of those, 23 of them were offensive rebounds, the most since that same contest against UT Southern and the most versus a DI opponent since LA Tech had 24 at Northwestern State in 2012.
• AJ Bates and Kaden Cooper led the Bulldogs in scoring against JSU, each posting 15 points. Cooper has been highly efficient coming off the bench the last two games, averaging 15.5 points while shooting 66.7 percent from the field to go along with 7.0 boards per contest. Meanwhile, Bates has seen the most action on the floor so far this young season, averaging 30.7 minutes. Over the last two contests, he is averaging 10.5 points, 7.5 assists, and 4.5 boards per game.
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6.0 ppg | 2.3 rpg | 1.0 apg
JAYLEN FENNER
• Defense and rebounding tend to go hand-in-hand, which was prevalent in the season opener at Nevada when the Bulldogs allowed 77 points and were outrebounded, 45-26. Both were rectified in the last two games versus Lyon College and Jackson State, owning a +27 and +20 rebounding margin, respectively. LA Tech has had 50+ rebounds in both, the first time doing so in back-to-back games since 2014, and held both opponents to under 30 percent shooting from the floor, something that has not happened in consecutive games in at least 20 years.
7.0 ppg | 2.3 rpg | 2.0 spg
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Overall: 2-1 | CUSA: 0-0 | H: 2-0 | A: 0-1 | N: 0-0 NOVEMBER MEDIA W/L SCORE 4 at Nevada MWN L 50-77 9 LYON COLLEGE ESPN+ W 93-35 15 JACKSON STATE ESPN+ W 68-51 19 at Indiana State ESPN+ 6 p.m. 26 INDIANA STATE^ ESPN+ 6:30 p.m. 29 ALCORN STATE^ ESPN+ Noon DECEMBER 3 at Georgia Southern ESPN+ 6 p.m. 7 ECCLESIA COLLEGE ESPN+ 2 p.m. 13 UL-LAFAYETTE ESPN+ 2 p.m. 17 at Tulane ESPN+ 6:30 p.m. 22 DALLAS CHRISTIAN ESPN+ 6:30 p.m. 29 UTEP* ESPN+ 6:30 p.m. JANUARY 2 at Middle Tennessee* ESPN+ 6:30 p.m. 4 at WKU* ESPN+ 2 p.m. 8 LIBERTY* CBS SN 6 p.m. 10 DELAWARE* ESPN+ 2 p.m. 14 MIDDLE TENNESSEE* ESPN+ 6:30 p.m. 17 at Jacksonville State* ESPN+ 4 p.m. 24 KENNESAW STATE* ESPN+ 2 p.m. 28 at UTEP* ESPN+ 8 p.m. 31 at Sam Houston* ESPN2 9 p.m. FEBRUARY 4 NEW MEXICO STATE* ESPN+ 6:30 p.m. 7 SAM HOUSTON* ESPN+ 2 p.m. 12 at Missouri State* CBS SN 7:30 p.m. 14 at FIU* ESPN+ 1 p.m. 18 JACKSONVILLE STATE* ESPN+ 6:30 p.m. 21 at Kennesaw State* ESPN+ 4 p.m. 26 MISSOURI STATE* ESPN+ 6:30 p.m. 28 FIU* ESPN+ 2 p.m. MARCH 5 at Liberty* ESPN+ 6 p.m. 7 at Delaware* ESPN+ 11 a.m. 10 at CUSA Championship$ ----- TBD
Head Coach: Talvin Hester Record at LA Tech: 59-41 (4th year) Career Record: Same Record vs. INST: 0-0
• Kylan Howze has seen his playing team increase in each game. He played 26 minutes against JSU, registering six points and nine rebounds. He is the top rebounder so far, averaging 7.0 per game (has back-to-back games with nine apiece). • It is practically a brand new roster for LA Tech as 10 newcomers joined the squad, including eight transfers and two high school signees. It has become the new norm in college basketball and the Bulldogs are no different, having averaged 8.7 newcomers per season over the last three years. The 10 years before that, LA Tech averaged just 5.1 newcomers per season. • Talvin Hester enters his fourth season at the helm at LA Tech. In his third year, Hester guided the Bulldogs to a 20-win season, marking the 30th time in program history the team has reached 20+ victories. This was the second straight season Hester led the team to 20 wins, going 22-10 in 2013-14. As a result, he became the seventh head coach in program history to register back-toback 20-win seasons.
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WILLL ALLEN
2025-26 SCHEDULE
LOUISIANA TECH BULLDOGs (2-1)
1.7 ppg | 4.0 rpg | 1.3 spg
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DATE/TIME: Wednesday, Nov. 19 | 6:00 p.m. CT LOCATION: Hulman Center (Terre Haute, Ind.) SERIES HISTORY: Tied, 1-1 STREAK: LA Tech, 1 LAST MEETING: Jan. 27, 1975 | Ruston, La. LA Tech 67, Indiana State 63 MEDIA: ESPN+ TALENT: N/A RADIO: LA Tech Sports Network | LA Tech Athletics app TALENT: Kyle Schassburger (pxp) STATS: LATechSports.com/Stats
GAME 4 MATCHUP
KYLAN HOWZE
GAMEDAY INFO
7.0 ppg | 7.0 rpg | 2.0 bpg
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