Feb. 6, 2016 Final Stats | Quotes | Notes
LA Tech vs. North Texas box 
LA Tech season stats
DENTON, Texas ÃÆ'¢Ã¢'¬" Louisiana Tech had its four-game winning streak come to an end on Saturday afternoon as the Bulldogs fell, 80-69, to North Texas inside The Super Pit.
LA Tech (17-6, 6-4 C-USA) held the lead for the first 25 minutes of the game, including a 10-point halftime edge, but the big swing in the game came at the start of the second stanza when North Texas (9-14, 4-6 C-USA) went on a 17-6 run.
Igniting the run was guard Deckie Johnson who made 15 straight points with four three-pointers.
From there, the Bulldogs were never able to gain any offensive rhythm or string together stops on the defensive end.
There were a total of 60 fouls called in the game with 31 of those belonging to LA Tech (21 coming in the second 20 minutes), resulting in four players fouling out ÃÆ'¢Ã¢'¬" Erik McCree, Merrill Holden, Jacobi Boykins and Derric Jean.
The Mean Green was then able to convert at a high clip at the foul line, going 30-of-40 from the charity stripe in the game.
"It was a difficult game for us," head coach Eric Konkol said. "I thought we played very well in the first half on both ends of the floor. North Texas did a nice job of coming out in the second half and making plays to get momentum. It was a very difficult game to get into a good flow on both ends. We have to be able to respond.
"Every game gives us an opportunity to learn something. There is always going to be adversity. We have to respond to all types of situations from foul trouble to injuries. We have to be ready and have the next guy step up for us."
Down 62-51 with 7:45 to play, the Bulldogs tried to make a run similar to the one they capitalized on in their previous game Thursday at Rice. A mini 6-0 run forced a North Texas timeout.
Two minutes later, an old-fashioned three-point play by Alex Hamilton pulled the 'Dogs to within four, 65-61, with 3:25 to play, but the Mean Green connected on 11 free throws the rest of the way to put the game out of reach.
Hamilton ended up with a team-high 20 points. Half of his points came on free throws in the first period which helped give the Bulldogs a 40-30 lead at intermission.
As a team, LA Tech shot 22-of-52 (42.3 percent) from the field while making just two three-pointers. Despite fouling out, Jean was also in double figures with 10 points to go along with three steals.
NT went 22-of-42 from the field for 52.4 percent and was led by Johnson who had a game-high 21.
LA Tech returns home on Thursday to take on Middle Tennessee. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. and will be broadcast live on the American Sports Network.
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