Boxscore

RUSTON, La. ? Louisiana Tech shot only 26.3 percent from the floor and went more than 12 minutes without a field goal at the end of the first half and beginning of the second in a 61-44 loss to Fresno State in the Western Athletic Conference opener for both teams Thursday night at the Thomas Assembly Center.

Sophomore Kyle Gibson led Tech (3-10, 0-1 WAC) in both scoring and rebounds with 16 and eight, respectively. Drew Washington and Keith Smith added eight points apiece.

Fresno State (8-6, 1-0 WAC) was led by Eddie Miller with a game-high 17 points, including 5-of-10 shooting from beyond the 3-point arc. Kevin Bell dropped in 13 points along with six assists.

Neither team shot particularly well in the first half as Fresno held a 24-18 lead at the break. Tech was shooting only 19 percent from the field (5-26) but had knocked down six free throws to keep it close.

?Defensively, I thought we played about as well as we could in the first half,? Tech head coach Kerry Rupp said. ?Holding this team to 61 points is a good defensive effort. We just couldn?t get it done shooting tonight.?

A steal and a dunk by Washington with 9:59 to play in the first frame cut the Fresno lead to one at 15-14. But Tech would get no closer the rest of the way as it managed only four points the rest of the half ? all on free throws ? and did not connect from the floor until the 17:51 mark of the second half on a Gibson jumper.

Fresno State then found its stroke from beyond the 3-point arc, knocking down five bombs in the second half to push its lead to as many as 18 in the final minutes. Louisiana Tech, by contrast, was 3-of-18 (16.7 percent) from long range.

Louisiana Tech won the turnover battle with 13 giveaways to Fresno?s 15, but saw the other set of Bulldogs grab 45 rebounds to Tech?s 34.

?We have to do a better job offensively,? Rupp said. ?We need to work on ball movement and be better aggressively. We need to make that extra pass and get more touches on the ball.?

Tech will hit the road for its next three contests, starting with a trip to the Gem State as the Bulldogs face Idaho on Thursday, Jan. 10. Tip-off is set for 9 p.m. Central time, and the broadcast can be heard on KXKZ 107.5 FM or by clicking on the ?Listen Live? link at www.latechsports.com.