Feb. 4, 2010
Box Score | Photo Gallery 
RUSTON, La. - Louisiana Tech used a 15-0 start to beat San Jose State 71-64 Thursday at the Thomas Assembly Center.
The Bulldogs improved to 19-4 overall and 7-2 in the Western Athletic Conference and are tied in first place. The Spartans fell to 12-9 overall and 5-3 in the WAC.
"We got off to a great start and brought great defensive focus and great defensive energy," head coach Kerry Rupp said. "That set the tone for the entire game and we just tried to sustain that for 40 minutes. On offense, we tried to make sure that we got a quality possession every time down the court."
Senior Magnum Rolle led Tech with 21 points and added five rebounds and four blocks. He was 8-for-14 from the field and 5-for-5 from the free throw line. Senior Kyle Gibson scored 18 points on 7-of-15 shooting.
"We really focused on getting the ball inside and the game plan worked," Rupp said.
Senior Jamel Guyton did a little bit of everything as he had nine points, four rebounds, four assists and four steals. Junior Olu Ashaolu had nine points on 4-of-9 shooting and eight rebounds.
Senior David Jackson played 22 minutes off the bench and scored eight points including a wild 32-foot heave to beat the shot clock.
The Bulldogs jumped out to a 15-0 lead, their largest of the game, as the Spartans were held without a field goal for the first 7:58. SJSU tightened the Bulldog lead to just eight points at halftime, 34-26.
The second half, like the first, was all LA Tech as they never trailed and kept at least a three-point lead throughout.
Tech shot 45.8 percent (27-of-59) from the field for the game and SJSU shot 42.4 percent (25-of-59).
A big reason San Jose State beat Tech in their first meeting of the season was Spartan guard Adrian Oliver who scored a career-high 39 points. This time the junior was held to a team-high 22 points with Gibson guarding him the majority of the game.
SJSU was hurt by 17 turnovers to just eight assists while Tech dished out 16 assists and had 14 turnovers.
The Bulldogs will next play at New Mexico State on Monday at 8 p.m. CT in a game broadcast on ESPN Regional.
