Dec. 7, 2010

Box Score

Final Stats

NATCHITOCHES, La. - Senior guard DeAndre Brown scored a career-high 31 points, but Louisiana Tech fell to a hot shooting Northwestern State team 85-78 Tuesday night at Prather Coliseum.

"We've got to be tougher," said Tech head coach Kerry Rupp. "They got easy shots and we didn't get back. At the end of the day it's about toughness. We've got to toughen up. We have too many guys trying to get the easy looks and the easy three, but this isn't an easy game."

The Demons (6-3) shot 50 percent from the field including 56.3 percent from three-point range. The Bulldogs (7-3) shot 37.9 percent from the field and 47.6 percent from three-point range with most of the scoring in the second half.

In fact, Tech outscored NSU 54-48 in a high scoring second half as both teams shot over 50 percent. Brown was the key contributor as the Fort Worth, Texas native scored 25 points in the final half and finished 9-for-18 from the field. He was 6-for-8 from three-point range, which tied for the second-most three's made for a Bulldog in a single game. Brown's 31 points was the most scored by a Bulldog since Jamel Guyton's 31 points against Fresno State on March 11 last season.

Junior Olu Ashaolu scored 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season. He was a perfect 9-for-9 from the free throw line and shot 6-of-9 from the field.

Freshman Lonnie Smith joined Brown and Ashaolu in double figures with a career-high 12 points. All three of his field goals were from three-point range as he was 3-for-6.

With Tech leading 5-3 early on, NSU scored 14 unanswered points to take a 17-5 lead. As Tech struggled to find open shots, Cordarius Johnson hit the Bulldog's first field goal in nearly 10 minutes as NSU led 21-12 with 7:52 remaining. NSU led by 17 before a 6-0 Bulldog run cut it to 11, 35-24 with a minute to play. Louisiana Tech trailed 37-24 at halftime.

For the half, the Bulldogs shot just 18.2 percent from the field (4-22). The Demons shot 47.4 percent.

As Bulldogs shot much better in the second half, but the red hot Demons continued to fire away and led by their largest margin of the game, 20 (51-31) with 15:02 remaining. Brown then scored 12 of Tech's next 22 points during a 22-10 run to cut the deficit to just eight points, 61-53 with 8:37 remaining.

"He's very gifted offensively," Rupp said of Brown. "He made some big plays for us and gave us a chance to climb back into the game."

Tech continued to chip away as Brown hit a three-pointer to bring the Bulldogs to within six points, 79-64, with 3:34 remaining. However, that was as close to taking the lead as Tech would get. NSU held on to beat Louisiana Tech and broke a 13 game losing streak against the Bulldogs.

Devon Baker led the Demons with 21 points.

This was the first of three straight road games for the Bulldogs. Tech next plays at McNeese State on Saturday at 3 p.m.