Feb. 25, 2011

Box Score

HONOLULU - Louisiana Tech fell to 2-11 in Western Athletic Conference play with a 71-58 loss at Hawai'i on Thursday.

The Bulldogs (12-17) shot just 37.3 percent from the field while the Rainbow Warriors shot 50 percent from the field and improved to 16-10 (6-7).

Freshman guard Lonnie Smith led a balanced Bulldog scoring attack with 12 points, eight in the second half. Junior forward Antwond Rochell finished the game with a career-high 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting.

"We've got to be able to knock down open shots and be active on defense," said Tech head coach Kerry Rupp. "We've got to come out and play hard. We've got to be tough enough to finish shots in the paint and we didn't do those things tonight."

Junior forward Romario Souza scored eight points on 3-of-6 shooting from the field and finished with a team-high eight rebounds.

Junior forward Olu Ashaolu, the WAC's second-leading rebounder, was in foul trouble all game and finished with nine points and eight rebounds.

The Bulldogs quickly fell behind 17-4. Tech then went on a 12-6 scoring run to get within seven points, 23-16 with 8:17 to play in the half after a lay-up by Roshell. However, following that field goal, Tech went nearly eight minutes without a field goal as Hawai'i led 41-22 at halftime.

The Bulldogs shot 32.0 percent from the field while the `Bows shot 65.2 percent.

Hawai'i built a 25 point lead in the second half, its largest of the game, with 16:44 remaining. From that time, Tech went on a 17-7 run and trailed 56-41 with 8:48 to play. The Bulldogs outscored the `Bows 36-30 in the second half, but it was too late as Tech dropped its ninth-straight road game.

Bill Amis led Hawai'i with 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting.

Tech junior guard CJ Scott scored his first points of the season and finished with three.

Louisiana Tech next plays at San Jose State on Saturday. The game time originally set for 7 p.m. CT, will be at 8 p.m. CT.