by Malcolm Butler
Louisiana Tech opens up its 2025-26 season tonight when the Bulldogs face a former league rival with a trip out West to face Nevada.
Tipoff at the Lawlor Events Center is at 9 p.m. and the game can be seen on the Mountain West Network.
The Bulldogs and the Wolf Pack were both members of the Western Athletic Conference from 2001 through 2012 when they faced off 25 times as league foes. Nevada leads the all-time series 19-6, and this will be the first out-of-conference match-up.
“We are ready for the season,” said head coach Talvin Hester. “We have been fighting with each other since July and it is time to see somebody else. It is time to play against some different things from what we do.
“It’s time to start preparing for our goal and that is to win Conference USA. That’s what this non-conference schedule is for … to challenge ourselves.”
Bulldog fans will need a roster card early in the year with 10 new faces, including eight transfers and two freshman as Tech lost almost 80 percent of its scoring from a year ago, including two-time first team all-CUSA center Daniel Batcho.
The only returning letterwinners are sophomore AJ Bates, junior Kaden Cooper, senior Will Jeffress, and senior Will Allen. Bates, Cooper and Allen all saw significant minutes last year while Jeffress comes back after a season-ending injury suffered in just the third game of the year.
“It’s crazy, but I was watching a game the other night and they said Memphis had no returning players,” said Hester. “We have 10 new guys. I think everybody is trying to find their way. I think it’s why you see coaches advocating for more scrimmages, more exhibitions. All of us are returning one, two, three guys. If you return four guys it’s a ton.
“These games are so important for us as we gather information and try to find out who we are along the way.”
Tech is coming off a 20-12 season that saw the Bulldogs go 9-9 in league play before falling in double overtime in the first round of the CUSA Tournament. In addition to the graduation of Batcho, Tech lost Sean Newman, Al Green, Amaree Abram, and Sean Elkinton to the transfer portal.
“I feel like I’ve been trying to be more vocal,” said Bates, who averaged 4.6 points in 29 games and four starts last year. “I want to lead not only with my voice, but with my actions this year.”
Nevada is picked to finish seventh in the Mountain West Conference after a 17-win season last year. Head coach Steve Alford, who played at Indiana for Bobby Knight, does have one familiar name on its roster in UTEP transfer Corey Camper, Jr.
The Wolfpack defeated Utah 80-77 and Eastern Washington 73-52 in a pair of exhibition games.
