Dec. 23, 2014 Final Stats
LA Tech vs. NC State box score 
LA Tech season stats
RALEIGH, N.C. - Louisiana Tech showed how good they could be in the first half against NC State, holding a 15-point lead at the break and winning in every statistical category, even rebounding.
The Bulldogs led the entire first half and had as much as an 18-point edge with 14 minutes left in the game, but the tide completely turned and the Wolfpack came back to take the win, 73-65, on Tuesday night inside the PNC Arena.
"Our first 20 minutes I thought we played really well," head coach Michael White said. "I was proud of the effort and the focus our guys came out with. The second half we got outrebounded by 15 and it was a completely different game.
"All we talked about at halftime was not trying to hold on to win by one point, but to win the second 20 minutes by one point. I thought we got off to a decent start in that regard, but our pressure and our press was not as effective."
LA Tech (8-4) was well on its way to an early Christmas present in the form of a victory at halftime with a 39-24 advantage, outscoring NC State (10-3) in the paint, 24-10, with a plus-three rebounding advantage and forcing the Wolfpack into eight turnovers which they turned into 15 points.
The Bulldogs kept the Wolfpack at bay to start the second half as well with Kenneth Smith hitting a step-back three-pointer to have the lead balloon to 50-32 six minutes deep.
Then the home team made its big run, one the `Dogs could not stymy. NC State got rolling with an 18-2 run sparked by Kyle Washington who scored all 11 of his points in the second stanza to go along with his game-high 10 rebounds.
LA Tech was holding on for dear life trying to overcome a hot NC State team and the 15,739 fans behind them. However, the Wolfpack grabbed the lead for the first time with 4:25 to go on a three-point play by Trevor Lacey and never relinquished it.
The Bulldogs made just 7-of-24 shots in the second stanza. They were able to get to the foul line twice as much as the first stanza, but did not make them at the same efficiency rate. In the first half they `Dogs were 7-of-9 while in the second half they were just 11-of-18.
Raheem Appleby and Alex Hamilton combined for 23 first half points, but were held to just 13 in the second half and nine of those came at the charity stripe. They each finished with 18 points.
NC State's Lacey led the way for the Wolfpack with a game-high 20.
LA Tech takes a holiday break and will return to action on Monday, Dec. 29 versus Southern Arkansas in its final non-conference game of the season. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. in the Thomas Assembly Center.
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