Courtesy of LA Tech Athletic Communications
Louisiana Tech wraps up a three-game home stand tonight when the Bulldogs play host to Middle Tennessee inside the Thomas Assembly Center on Karl Malone Court.
Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m and the game can be seen on ESPN+.
LA Tech leads the all-time series versus Middle Tennessee, 17-10. The Bulldogs will be looking for redemption as they suffered their worst CUSA loss ever back on Jan. 2, falling 88-51 to the Blue Raiders in Murfreesboro.
In now their 13th season in the league together, the Bulldogs and Blue Raiders have faced off twice within a season five times. And in all five of those seasons, a team swept both matchups. LA Tech has done so each of the last two seasons.
Since joining CUSA together, LA Tech owns a slim 10-8 advantage in the series. LA Tech has won 11 of the 13 matchups all-time in Ruston over MTSU, including the last two.
The Bulldogs (9-7, 2-3 CUSA) delivered when it mattered most this past Saturday, rallying late and pulling off a 70-68 overtime win over Delaware to snap a three-game losing streak. The ‘Dogs trailed by as much as 12 points before forcing the extra period. In OT, LA Tech ended on a 7-1 run, thanks in large part to DJ Dudley to hit a game-tying three at 67-67 followed by a go-ahead layup with 22 seconds left.
The team led for just one minute and 31 seconds, the shortest amount of time owning a lead in a win since Jan. 1, 2022, versus WKU (led for 0:26). In what was the largest comeback of the season, LA Tech improved to 21-6 in OT contests in the TAC, having won five straight.
Middle Tennessee (10-6, 4-1 CUSA) enters the week tied for second in the CUSA standings with a 4-1 record. The Blue Raiders held serve at home to start, winning the first three at the Murphy Center. They then split their first road trip this past weekend, falling in overtime 83-80 at UTEP before bouncing back to defeat New Mexico State 59-55. In that game, MTSU erased an early 16-point deficit (20-4) in the opening nine minutes to take the come-from-behind win.
MTSU will pull the trigger from three early and often. LA Tech knows all about that after the Blue Raiders set a single-game program record with 22 made triples in the first meeting. They are currently averaging 28.3 three-point attempts per game, second most in the league and 45th most in the country. As a result, the Blue Raiders are averaging 9.8 made threes per game.
