Courtesy of LA Tech Athletic Communications
Louisiana Tech had its eight-game home winning streak to come an end on Thursday night, falling to Kennesaw State by a final score of 69-47 inside the Thomas Assembly Center on Karl Malone Court.
“I did not have them ready to play,” said head coach Talvin Hester. “I have to do a better job of getting them ready to play. I have to light a fire. I felt it earlier, did not feel like we were locked in.”
LA Tech (17-8, 6-6 CUSA) scored the first basket of the contest but that ended up being the only lead of the game for the Bulldogs who were held to a season low in points. Meanwhile, KSU (15-10, 7-5 CUSA) got scoring at all three levels including from beyond the arc where they hit 10 three-pointers despite coming into the game shooting just 29 percent from deep.
Three-pointers were keeping the Bulldogs in the game during the first half thanks to a pair of triples by both Al Green and Sean Newman Jr. Jordan Crawford buried one as well to make it a 5-point deficit with 2:28 remaining in the stanza.
However, the Owls would close the half on an 11-0 run to quickly push their lead out to 16 midway through the contest.
“It was difficult,” said Hester. “The whole time we were down five, six points. I kept telling the team our wounds were self-inflicted. [Kennesaw State] had eight offensive rebounds in the first half. Our guards were not boxing out and chasing down rebounds. We were overlooking open people. We were throwing passes into the defenders’ hands. We were beating ourselves.”
The lead remained at 16 for the visitors with 11:48 to go in the game, but the Bulldogs could never slice into the deficit as they made just 10 total points the rest of the way.
LA Tech shot just 34.0 percent from the field (17-50) and 26.1 percent from downtown (6-of-23). Green ended up being the lone Bulldog in double figures with 11 points.
KSU shot 46.2 percent from the field (24-of-52) and 40.0 percent from three-point range (10-of-25). Three Owls scored double-digit points led by Simeon Cottle who had a game-high 19.
LA Tech will play host to league leader Jacksonville State on Saturday, Feb. 15 at 3 p.m. CT in the TAC. The matchup will be broadcast on ESPN+.
