RENO, Nev. ? It?s the start of a new season Thursday as Louisiana Tech?s Bulldogs open play in the 2005 Western Athletic Conference Tournament at the Lawlor Center.

The Bulldogs will tip-off against Fresno State at 8 p.m. in quarterfinal play. The game will be telecast live in Shreveport on UPN 21.

Tech, the No. 5 seed, ended the regular season at 14-14 overall and 9-9 in the WAC while Fresno State is the No. 4 seed at 15-13 and 9-9.

The Bulldogs enter the tourney on a high note after snapping a five-game losing streak with a 91-82 home win over Tulsa last Saturday. Fresno State, meanwhile, dropped its final game of the season as Hawaii took a 66-59 home win.

?This is what it?s all about and what you spend the regular season preparing for,? Tech coach Keith Richard said. ?We needed that win over Tulsa very bad and it was good to build a little something positive heading into the tournament. The first game is always the toughest, but hopefully we can get things going against Fresno State.

Louisiana Tech and Fresno State split their regular season contests with both teams winning on the road. FSU defeated Tech 60-58 on Jan. 8 in Ruston, La., while Tech took a 79-72 win in Fresno, Ca., on Feb. 3.

?They beat us on our floor on a last second shot and then we go to California and beat them,? Richard said. ?You never know what to expect in that first tournament game, but it?s the start of a new season and we?re ready to go out there and see what we can do with this thing.?

Sophomore forward Paul Millsap, a first-team All-WAC selection, has scored in double figures in 32 consecutive games and leads the nation in rebounding with 12.3 boards per contest while ranking No. 3 in the WAC with 20.3 points per game.

Senior guard Donell Allick is averaging 12.4 points and 3.8 rebounds per game for the Bulldogs while seniors Wayne Powell and Corey Dean are chipping in with 10.5 ppg each. Powell also ranks No. 11 in WAC rebounding with 6.5 rpg.

Ja?Vance Coleman leads FSU with 16.3 ppg while Mustafa Al-Sayyad is Fresno State?s top man on the boards with 7.6 rpg.

Tech will look to its defense to spur on a win over Fresno State as the Bulldogs from Louisiana 2-11 when opponents have scored 70 or more points and 11-3 when holding the opposition to under 70 points. Tech opponents are averaging an even 70.0 points on the season.

Louisiana Tech has not allowed its opponents to score 100 points in a game for 337 contests, the longest such streak in the WAC.

Tech and Fresno State are no strangers in conference tourney play as they squared off in Louisiana Tech's first ever WAC tournament game with FSU taking a 72-69 win.

Louisiana Tech stands at 1-3 in all-time WAC tourney play. The Bulldogs won their first WAC tournament game in first-round action last year, downing San Jose State 57-51 before falling to UTEP 62-55 in quarterfinal play.

If Tech makes it past Fresno State into the semifinals, then that game on Friday at 10:30 p.m. will be televised live in Monroe on KARD Fox Channel 14. The winners of Thursday's Tech-Fresno State and Nevada-Boise State games will meet in that Friday semifinal.

The quarterfinal game against Fresno State will also be broadcast on KXKZ FM-107.5 in Ruston with the pregame show beginning at 7:30 p.m.