Jan. 15, 2011

Box Score

RUSTON, La. - In a game with two teams searching for their first Western Athletic Conference wins, it was Louisiana Tech that was left still searching as it lost to Hawai'i 56-48 on Saturday at the Thomas Assembly Center.

"I thought the guys gave a good effort for the most part, but you've got to be able to score and we struggled to do that," said Tech head coach Kerry Rupp. "I thought the guys made some strides and played hard, but at the end of the day we've got to be able to score."

The Bulldog's 48 points was one off their season-low of 47 and did so by shooting just 28.8 percent from the field, tying its lowest of the season. Hawai'i (10-8, 1-5 WAC) shot 42.3 percent as it broke a five game losing streak.

For the second time this season, freshmen led the Bulldogs (9-10, 0-5 WAC) in scoring as guards Kenyon McNeaill and Cordarius Johnson each had 11 points. McNeaill was 4-for-11 from the field including one three-pointer and Johnson was 5-for-12 with a three in his first collegiate start.

"Cordarius did well offensively and defensively he gave a better effort," Rupp said. "He's going to be a very very good player for us."

Three-point shooting was a problem all night for the Bulldogs as they shot a season-low 14.3 percent (2-14) and hit their first trey with 9:32 remaining in the second half. Hawai'i didn't fare much better as it shot 20 percent (2-10) from beyond the arc.

Tech's top two scorers were held to a combined 12 points as DeAndre Brown scored seven and Olu Ashaolu had five to go with seven rebounds.

Leading the Bulldogs in rebounding was J.L. Lewis who finished with a career-high 10 boards to go with five points.

"It was a physical game, but we've got to play more physical," Rupp said. "We've got to be more competitive and make tough plays."

Louisiana Tech trailed for most of the first half and went into halftime down 29-25.

With 7:50 remaining in the game, Johnson hit a three-pointer to give the Bulldogs their first lead since the 5:09 mark in the first half. Then with 5:33 remaining in the game, the `Bows retook the lead for good as the final difference of eight points was Hawai'i's biggest lead of the night.

Bill Amis led Hawai'i with 22 points and 12 rebounds.

Louisiana Tech will next be in action on Thursday at Utah Sate at 8 p.m. CT.