RUSTON – Louisiana Tech opened up Conference USA play in impressive fashion, defeating Marshall by a final score of 79-56 inside the Thomas Assembly Center on Karl Malone Court.
It was arguably the best defensive performance by LA Tech (10-3, 1-0 C-USA) this season, holding an up-tempo, high-powered Marshall (7-7, 0-1 C-USA) team to a season-low in points and just 29.4 percent shooting.
The Herd had the upper-hand though early in the game, scoring 10 straight points to build an early 10-2 lead. And with that eight-point lead just three minutes into the nationally-televised contest and the Bulldogs leading scorer
Kenneth Lofton, Jr. forced to sit due to two fouls, things were looking up for the visiting team.
However, the rest of the team took their game to another level and then some. Trailing 16-9, the Bulldogs went on a 17-0 run. The lead ultimately grew to 42-27 at the midway point behind strong play from
Cobe Williams (career-high 22 points),
Keaston Willis (20 points) and
Kenny Hunter (seven points and a career-high 12 rebounds).
Knowing the Herd can score in bunches, Willis came out on fire in the second half by hitting four three-pointers in less than five minutes to put the game away for the Bulldogs who won their 16th straight home game.
QUOTABLES
Head coach
Eric Konkol
"I thought it was a total team effort. That is the type of response you want when you have some adversity. It was an opportunity for somebody to step up and I thought
Kenny Hunter did a remarkable job. He provided a lot of energy and really ignited our team. Once we got some stops, we were able to get in transition. I thought
Cobe Williams,
Amorie Archibald,
Keaston Willis, their floor game of taking care of the basketball and finding good looks for our team really got us going to build that lead."
NOTABLES
- With the 79-56 victory, LA Tech improves to 9-5 all-time against Marshall.
- The Bulldogs are now 8-1 all-time in Conference USA openers.
- The 56 points was the fewest points allowed by the Bulldogs versus the Herd in the series history.It was also the fewest points scored by Marshall since Jan. 11, 2020.
- The 23-point margin of victory was the second largest for LA Tech in the series (largest was a 24-point win in 2015).
- LA Tech extended its home winning streak to 16 and is now 64-8 all-time at home against C-USA opponents.
- The 29.4 percent shooting by Marshall was the lowest allowed by LA Tech this season.
- Amorie Archibald made his 119th career start (and 69th consecutive start), the third most in program history.
- Cobe Williams scored a career-high 22 points.
- Keaston Willis posted his second 20-point scoring performance of the season with 20 points.He also made a team-high four three-pointers, the seventh time this season he has made at least three in a game.
- This was the first time two Bulldogs scored 20+ points since Feb. 15, 2020 versus Florida Atlantic (Kalob Ledoux and Derric Jean).
- Amorie Archibald scored 12 points, reaching double figures for the 10th time this season and the fifth straight game.
- Kenny Hunter pulled down a career-high 12 rebounds.
- Cobe Williams registered three steals, the fourth time this season he has had at least three in a game.
UP NEXT
LA Tech returns to the TAC on Saturday, Jan. 1 to battle WKU. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. CT and will be nationally televised on CBS Sports Network.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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