GameDay Central | Game Notes

RUSTON ââ'¬" Coming off its first loss of the season, Louisiana Tech will turn to its home crowd to help regroup as the Bulldogs begin a three-game home stand on Friday night when they take on Jackson State at 6:30 p.m. inside the Thomas Assembly Center.

In fact, LA Tech (5-1) will not have to do much packing at all over the next five weeks. Eight of the 10 upcoming games on the schedule are at the TAC, a place that has seen the 'Dogs be dominant having won 52 of the last 53 while also riding a 33-game winning streak.

First thing is first though and that is rebounding from a lopsided loss at Memphis.

The season is a long journey and each game gives us information about areas we need to improve," head coach Eric Konkol said. "We need to learn from the video, work to improve our weaknesses in practice and prepare for Friday's game.

"Our players are excited about the next opportunity to play and growing as a team. Playing at home with our students back on campus and our fans behind us gives our team great energy."

There were still bright spots despite losing by 26 to a hot-shooting Tigers team, one of them being the play of true freshman Jy'lan Washington who got his first career start as a Bulldog and ended up scoring a career-high 10 points.

Another was the play of Alex Hamilton in the second half. LA Tech's leading scorer (15.5 ppg) scored 17 of his team-high 18 points after intermission, including two three-pointers.

The defense will need to be improved upon though and that is where playing at home should provide an assist. In the three home games this season, the Bulldogs are allowing just 50.3 points per game and are forcing 19.3 turnovers per game.

Much like LA Tech, Jackson State (3-5) likes to force turnovers as they are averaging 16.6 per game after improving its win total to three with a 94-59 victory over Fisk.

"Jackson State is historically one of the best defensive teams in their league and change defenses often," Konkol said. "They have individuals with great scoring talent and we will see a team that plays extremely hard."

JSU's leading scorer, Paris Collins who averages 15.4 points per game, started his first game of the season against Fisk and scored 20. Their other two victories this year came against Southern Miss in Hattiesburg and versus Savannah State.

Friday will mark the third straight season that these two teams play each other. They have squared off 11 previous times with the Bulldogs holding a 9-2 advantage, having won the last eight meetings.

It is Military Appreciation Day. Fans who bring a new toy to the game for the Marine Toys for Tots foundation will receive a food voucher for free popcorn and drink (limit one voucher per new toy).

Fans can access live video and audio of the game via the Internet by subscribing to LA Tech All-Access at LATechSports.com. The game can be heard live on the LA Tech Sports Network on KXKZ 107.5 FM (Ruston), KRMD 1340 AM (Shreveport), KJVC 92.7 FM (Mansfield) and KTKC 92.9 FM (Springhill). The "Voice of the Bulldogs" Dave Nitz will call the play-by-play and Jack Thigpen will provide analysis.

Twitter users can also receive live in-game updates by following @LATechHoops.