Boxscore

Louisiana Tech caught a second wind down the stretch to knock off the University of New Orleans 76-64 at the Herrington Patriot Center and give Tech head coach Keith Richard his 122 win, which tied him with Andy Russo for third on the all-time coaching wins list at Tech.

The Bulldogs led 55-49 going into the media time out with 7:34 left in the second half, but the Privateers went on a 6-1 run to tie the score at 56 for the first tie of the game since the score stood at 7-7 early in the first half.

Tech then caught its second wind and exploded on a 12-2 run to take a 68-58 lead and carried that momentum to the 12-point win.

Senior guard Corey Dean led all scorers with 22 points after connecting on nine of 12 shots and recording two rebounds, one assist and one block. Tech and the Privateers played a physical game throughout the night, as the 52 total fouls called indicated, and Richard said this was the type of game Dean shines in.

?Corey (Dean) has handled his part of coming off the bench very well,? Richard said. ?I told him in front of the team the other day that there is a Sixth Man Award in the NBA, and he was huge off of the bench tonight. This was a tough man?s game. It was all about driving and getting to the rim, and that?s when Corey is at his best.?

The Bulldogs improved at the free throw line, making 19 of 27 free throws for 70.4 percent, and Richard noted the charity stripe is always important in close games.

?We did a much better job at the free throw line tonight,? Richard said. ?One of our goals coming into the game was to shoot more free throws than UNO, and the second goal was to make them. Looking at the stat sheet, we accomplished both goals, and that helped us win.?

UNO?s trio of Bo McCalebb, James Parlow and Shawn Malloy, who combined for 67 points in the Privateers? 87-85 overtime win over Tech last season, combined for only 32 points tonight.

Tech senior guard Daevon Haskins guarded McCalebb for the majority of the game. McCalebb had averaged 25.5 points per game through UNO?s first two contests this season, but Haskins and the Bulldogs held him to only three points in the first half and 14 points overall.

?We treated McCalebb like any other player,? Richard said. ?We saw film on how other teams defended him, and they played back to respect his penetration. We decided to play up on him and play him very physical. That forced him to take bad shots, and it frustrated him a little bit.?

Tech shot 51 percent from the field for the game (27-53), including three of seven from three-point land for 42.9 percent. The Bulldogs out-rebounded UNO 30-26, but Tech committed 18 turnovers compared to the Privateers 16.

Junior forward Paul Millsap finished behind Dean with 16 points, eight rebounds and four blocks, while junior guard Jerome Richardson had 11 points, and Haskins ended with 10 points and four assists.

The Bulldogs? next contest will be at Albama on Tuesday, which can be heard on the radio at 107.5 FM.