RUSTON – For the seventh straight year and the 165th time, Louisiana Tech will face off against in-state foe Louisiana-Lafayette with tipoff set for 4 p.m. on Saturday inside the Thomas Assembly Center on Karl Malone Court.
The matchup will be streamed live on CUSA.tv (subscription required). Fans can also listen to
Dave Nitz and
Jack Thigpen call the action on KXKZ 107.5 FM (Ruston), KOKA 93.3 FM/980 AM (Shreveport) and KJVC 92.7 FM (Mansfield) as well as on the LA Tech Athletics app.
Saturday is Throwback in the TAC, sponsored by Karl Malone Toyota of Ruston, as the Bulldogs will be wearing alternate throwback uniforms. The design replicated is the Columbia blue road jersey worn from 1982-94 by LA Tech legends like Malone, Randy White and PJ Brown.
The first 500 fans in attendance will get a free throwback t-shirt with the uniform design. One lucky fan will also get a chance to win a new car at halftime.
On the court, LA Tech (6-3) looks to rebound from a disappointing 71-68 defeat at Sam Houston State which saw the team commit a season-high 21 turnovers and miss 11 free throws.
Returning home can certainly help as Saturday starts a three-game home stretch to round out non-conference play. The 'Dogs are a perfect 4-0 at home so far this season and have won 19 of their last 20 games in the TAC.
LA Tech hopes to continue its hot shooting. Over the past four games, the Bulldogs have made exactly 10 three-pointers in all four with a shooting average of 41 percent from beyond the arc.
One of those sharp shooters has been
Amorie Archibald who is coming off a 20-point performance at Sam Houston State. It was his second 20+ scoring effort of the season and the sixth of his career. The junior is averaging 16.5 points over the last four games.
UL-Lafayette (5-4) is undefeated at home this season just like LA Tech, but the Ragin' Cajuns have gone 0-3 in road games, including a 77-65 loss at Arizona State this past Saturday.
ULL has a revamped roster with seven newcomers on the team. One of those newcomers, forward Jalen Johnson, is averaging a team-best 16.7 points per game. He also leads the team in rebounding at 6.7 boards per contest.
Junior Cedric Russell, a preseason All-Sun Belt selection, is averaging 14.0 points per game while shooting 43 percent from three-point range.
After having been conference foes in five different leagues, LA Tech and ULL have been playing a continuous home-and-home series since 2013. The Bulldogs won by their largest margin (83-62) in almost 30 years in Lafayette last season.
Twitter users can follow @LATechHoops for live in-game updates.
