Courtesy of LA Tech Athletic Communications
Bulldogs vs. UTSA
After a week-long Christmas break, Louisiana Tech returns to the hardwood tonight when they host UTSA. LA Tech looks to avoid an 0-2 start to Conference USA play, something that has only happened once since joining the league in 2013-14.
GAME INFORMATION
Date/Time: Thursday, Dec. 29 | 6 p.m. CT
Location: Thomas Assembly Center on Karl Malone Court (Ruston, La.)
TV/Stream: ESPN+
Talent: Lyn Rollins (pxp), Chris Mycoskie (analyst)
Stats: LATechSports.com/Stats | LA Tech Athletics app
Radio: LA Tech Sports Network | LA Tech Athletics app
LA Tech (7-5, 0-1) snapped its three-game losing skid in a big way, blowing out Jarvis Christian by a final score of 108-52 in their final non-conference game of the season. The Bulldogs exploded for 59 first-half points and then cruised in the second half to a triple-digit total that was the most scored by the program since 2017.
Cobe Williams has been the anchor for the Bulldogs both offensively and defensively this season. He is averaging 17.9 points per game, having led the team in scoring five times, to go along with 4.2 assists per game. He is also averaging a team-best 2.80 steals per game, making him one of only four players in the country averaging at least 17 points, four assists and two steals per game.
UTSA (6-6, 0-1) looks to flip a switch after the Christmas break as the Roadrunners have dropped three of their four December games, including a 78-54 loss to North Texas in their C-USA opener. They are still looking for their first road win of the season, having dropped all three away from home.
The Roadrunners, trying to improve on a 10-win season (and a 3-15 C-USA record) from last year, return several players including their leading scorer in center Jacob Germany. The senior was a Conference USA Honorable Mention selection last season.
So far this season, Germany is averaging 11.7 points and 7.8 rebounds. The Roadrunners are currently led in scoring by newcomer Japhet Medor, a transfer from Hillsborough College, who is averaging 12.3 points per game. He has scored in double figures in four of the last five games, including a 23-point effort at Utah.
LA Tech and UTSA will meet for the 23rd time on the hardwood Thursday. The two teams will face off again in San Antonio on Jan. 28.
The Bulldogs lead the series, 16-6, having won the last four meetings. LA Tech has swept the series each of the last two seasons, including a 95-71 victory in the last meeting. The Bulldogs jumped all over the Roadrunners, going up 21-3 in route to their second largest win ever in the series, 95-71.
The two squads have been conference foes for the last 10 seasons. In 2012-13, LA Tech and UTSA were both members of the Western Athletic Conference. They both then left to join Conference USA.
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Lady Techsters at UTSA
The Louisiana Tech women’s basketball team will resume Conference USA play after the Christmas break with a trip to San Antonio tonight to face UTSA at 7 p.m. inside the Convocation Center.
GAME INFORMATION
Date/Time: Thursday, Dec. 29 | 7 p.m. CT
Location: Convocation Center (San Antonio, Texas)
TV/Stream: CUSA.tv
Radio: KNBB 97.7 FM | LA Tech Athletics app
Stats: LATechSports.com/Stats
Louisiana Tech (7-4, 0-1) will look even the conference record at 1-1 after dropping their Conference USA opener at home before the break to UTEP, despite shooting over 50 percent from the field and from three.
Keiunna Walker and Anna Larr Roberson lead the team in scoring with 14.7 and 13.2, respectively, but Tech’s bench has been productive, averaging 24.3 ppg and producing 20-plus in nine of 11 games.
UTSA (2-7, 0-0 C-USA) welcomes Tech to San Antonio for their Conference USA opener after a 2-7 non-conference slate, which includes a 2-0 mark in the Convocation Center with wins over Abilene Christian (76-70) and Idaho (76-69). The Roadrunners were selected ninth in the C-USA preseason poll.
On the floor, USC transfer guard Jordyn Jenkins leads the team with 20.7 ppg and 7.6 rpg. Jenkins, a preseason All-Conference selection, has been one of the hottest players in C-USA the last two weeks, picking up back-to-back Player of the Week honors.
Tonight’s game will be the 22nd overall meeting between the two programs in a series that dates to the 1984-85 season, with LA Tech taking the first-ever matchup on a neutral floor, 80-39. The two teams would not meet again until 2005-06 in a neutral setting, with Tech winning 75-67.
Tech began the series winning seven of the first eight, including the first three, followed by four wins in a row which ties the longest streak of the series. Tech won four straight again between 2019 and 2022 before UTSA took last season’s meeting, 59-49, in San Antonio.
