RUSTON – A new era begins Monday night inside the Thomas Assembly Center on Karl Malone Court as Louisiana Tech, under the guidance of first-year head coach Talvin Hester, hosts Mississippi College in the 2022-23 season opener.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Date/Time: Monday, Nov. 7 | 8 p.m. CT
Location: Thomas Assembly Center (Ruston, La.)
TV/Stream: CUSA.tv (HERE)
Radio: KXKZ 107.5 FM | LA Tech Athletics app
Stats: LATechSports.com/Stats (HERE)
 
ABOUT LOUISIANA TECH
Leading the Bulldogs into the 2022-23 is Talvin Hester who was named the 19th head coach in program history back on March 29.  He spent three season as an assistant coach at LA Tech, including the 2020-21 season when the Bulldogs won the C-USA West Division title and advanced to the NIT Final Four.  Last season, he was an assistant coach at Texas Tech where he helped the Red Raiders reach the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA Tournament.
 
LA Tech returns 10 letter winners off last season's 24-win squad, including starting guards Keaston Willis and Cobe Williams.  The duo were two of the top four scorers with an average of 12.1 and 11.3 points per game, respectively.  They also combined to make 139 three-pointers.
 
Williams was one of 10 players selected to the preseason All-Conference USA Team in a vote by the league head coaches.  The fourth-year guard from Dallas was an All-Conference USA Honorable Mention selection last season and is the most experienced Bulldog on the roster with 94 career games played.
 
Scheduled to make his return to the court is forward Isaiah Crawford who suffered a second season-ending knee injury on Nov. 12, 2021 in the third game of the season.  He was a Third Team All-Conference USA honoree his sophomore year.
 
ABOUT MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE
Mississippi College, a Division II program in Clinton, Mississippi, registered an overall record of 7-19 last season as well as a 5-15 conference mark as part of the Gulf South Conference.
 
The Choctaws were picked to finish ninth (out of 13 teams) in the GSC preseason poll.  Newcomers Paul Smith and Justin Reid were each named to the GSC Newcomers Watch List.
 
They have played two exhibition games this season, including an 81-58 pounding of Millsaps College this past Saturday.  Darrius Clark had a team-high 19 points on 6-of-8 shooting.  Prior to that, they visited Birmingham where they lost 98-47 to UAB.
 
THE SERIES
LA Tech leads the all-time series versus Mississippi College, 20-12.  Thirty-one of those matchups came between 1926-51 with the lone one since being the 2011-12 season opener for the Bulldogs, a game that ended in a 92-70 victory.  The two squads did play an exhibition game last season in Ruston with LA Tech coming out on top, 86-50.
 
TICKETS/PARKING
Season and single-game tickets are on sale and can be purchased at LATechSports/Tickets or by calling the LA Tech Ticket Office at (318) 257-3631.  There will be no assigned parking for Monday's doubleheader.
 
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