Courtesy of LA Tech Athletics
RUSTON – With the holiday spirit in full spring, Louisiana Tech stayed unbeaten at home this season, unwrapping a dominant 90-37 victory over Dallas Christian on Monday afternoon inside the Thomas Assembly Center on Karl Malone Court.
“We talked about finishing off the non-conference season the right way,” Tech Head Coach Talvin Hester said. “Not so much looking at the score, but how we wanted to play. We wanted to play with more assisted baskets coming off a game where we did not. I thought we did that, but we turned the ball over too much. We need to be solid and play the right way. Our defense is probably where we need it to be at this point, but we must find a way to get easier baskets on the offensive end. That must be in transition, off stops and run outs, scoring at the rim. We missed a lot of layups and dunks at the rim, which we cannot afford to miss those shots in conference.”
The No. 1-ranked scoring defense in the country showed its grit again as LA Tech (7-4) held DCC (4-9) to just 23.6 percent shooting from the field and 16.7 percent shooting from three-point range. The Bulldogs were also bullish on the glass again, outrebounding the Crusaders 55-23.
The ‘Dogs were slow offensively out of the gate, holding just an 18-8 advantage midway through the first half. A made three-pointer by Avery Thomas II then got the offense rolling, outscoring the Crusaders 29-9 the rest of the stanza to take a commanding 47-17 lead into the locker room.
LA Tech continued to extend the margin in the second half, shooting 60.0 percent from the field after the break and pushing the lead to as many as 54 points. Ten of the 11 Bulldogs that played found the scoring column, led by Kaden Cooper who had 24 points (10-of-18 shooting) and added 13 rebounds.
Thomas II also delivered a strong all-around performance with 16 points and a career-high 15 rebounds. Keegan Rowell was the third Bulldog in double figures with a season-high 10 points.
“He came in as a shooter,” Hester said of Thomas II. “He shot 40 percent from three in junior college, but he is not shooting nowhere near that right now. We told him that in this sport, you get rewarded by doing tough things. Guys that do not just score. I think he focused on rebounding today and it gave him a boost of confidence on offense. If he can keep that mentality, I think we will see him grow faster and eventually the ball will start falling.”
The Bulldogs will open conference play Monday, Dec. 29, at home against UTEP in a 6:30 p.m. tip.
“When we started the season at Nevada, I do not think the guys really realized how hard this level is,” Hester said. “And that woke them up a little bit. It still has not made us have that maturity to go win on the road yet, but it has showed us how hard teams play at home. We are going to try our best to simulate in practice what it looks like. How hard teams play. Until that first five minutes of the game starts though, they will not understand fully how hard conference is.”
