Dec. 31, 2009
RUSTON, La. -
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Fresh off an exciting win at Houston, Louisiana Tech will ring in the New Year by opening WAC play at home against Nevada at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
The Bulldogs (12-2) matched their season-high fifth consecutive win with a 99-94 victory at Houston on Tuesday. Rebounding was the key as Olu Ashaolu's 21 and Magnum Rolle's 10 combined to total 31 boards that nearly eclipsed the entire Cougar total of 32. The Bulldogs had 55 rebounds and scored 21 second chance points. Rolle added a career-high 29 points and Ashaolu scored 17 points as each recorded a double-double.
Senior Kyle Gibson scored 28 points to increase his conference-leading average to 21.6, which ranks 18th in the NCAA. He leads the NCAA in free throws made with 101 and is 31st in free throw percentage at 89.4.
LA Tech is unbeaten at home this season at 5-0. Meanwhile, Nevada (8-5) is 0-4 on the road, but has won six of their past seven games. The Wolf Pack have been the premier team in the Western Athletic Conference winning five-straight conference titles before finishing second last season. They house the WAC Preseason Player of the Year in sophomore forward Luke Babbit who ranks fourth in the conference in scoring with 19.8 points per game.
David Carter is in his first season as Nevada's head coach after serving as an assistant coach with the Wolf Pack for the past 10 seasons.
Last season, Nevada ended Tech's season in the WAC semifinals 77-68. Kyle Gibson scored 25 points and Rolle added 24 as Nevada's Armon Johnson scored 24 to send Nevada to the finals where they lost to Utah State. Nevada then earned a bid to the College Basketball Invitational where they fell in the first round. The Wolf Pack leads the all-time series 14-4 after a 1-2 record against the Bulldogs last season.
The game will be shown live on ESPN360.com.
The contest can be heard live throughout the LA Tech Sports Network, including KXKZ 107.5 FM (Ruston), KBYO 92.7 FM (Monroe/Farmerville) and 95.7 FM (Shreveport).
LA Tech fans can also access the game via the internet by subscribing to LA Tech All-Access (log onto www.latechsports.com) as the audio and video will be streamed live. Livestats are also available on the website.
