RUSTON – Louisiana Tech heads to the east coast to spend New Year's Eve with a Saturday battle against Charlotte. This marks the first of three consecutive split weeks of home/away conference games.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Date/Time: Saturday, Dec. 31 | 1 p.m. CT
Location: Halton Arena (Charlotte, N.C.)
TV/Stream: ESPN+
Talent: Bobby Rosinski (pxp), Jobey Thomas (analyst)
Stats: LATechSports.com/Stats | LA Tech Athletics app
Radio: LA Tech Sports Network | LA Tech Athletics app
 
ABOUT LOUISIANA TECH (8-5, 1-1 C-USA)
LA Tech picked up their first league victory in a big way, racing past UTSA by a final score of 91-69. The Bulldogs extended their winning streak over the Roadrunners to five and improved to 9-1 in their first home C-USA games. The 91 points tied for the second most points scored by the 'Dogs this season (third time with 90+ points).
 
The Bulldogs shot a season-best 53.8 percent from the field with four players scoring in double figures -- Isaiah Crawford (20), Keaston Willis (17), Cobe Williams (16), and Dravon Mangum (15). It marked the first time since 2018 that four Bulldogs scored 15+ points in a single game.
 
The defense continued to force turnovers, forcing UTSA into 17. It marked the 10th time this season LA Tech has forced 15+ turnovers (one of only 18 teams in the country to have done so). The Bulldogs rank 11th in the nation in TOs forced per game at 18.54.
 
Not only did Isaiah Crawford register his second straight 20-point game, he also recorded a career-high six steals in the win over UTSA. He also became just the 13th Bulldog in program history to post at least six steals in a single game (tied for second most ever by a LA Tech player in a C-USA game). He also became just the third Bulldog in program history to have a 20-point, 6-steal game.
 
ABOUT CHARLOTTE (10-3, 1-1 C-USA)
Charlotte notched its 10th victory of the sea­son with an 82-67 victory over Middle Tennes­see on Thursday. It was a one-point game at halftime, but the 49ers used a 16-2 run in the second half to pull away with the victory.  The 49ers are a perfect 6-0 at home this season and have won eight of their last nine home games dating back to last season.
 
Charlotte is very efficient on offense, ranking second in the league in both field goal per­centage (48.1) and three-point field goal per­centage (38.1). The 49ers also have the best assist/turnover ratio in the conference and is one of the top teams in the country at not foul­ing, committing just 13.8 per game.
 
The 49ers do not give up a bunch a points defensively, ranking 20th in the country in scoring defense (60.2). Only three teams this season have scored over 70 points against Charlotte.
 
Charlotte does it with balanced scoring as four players are averaging right around 10 points per game. They are currently led by Brice Wil­liams, who is coming off a career game against Middle Tennessee when he scored 31 points. He is shooting 49 percent from the field, 50 percent from three, and 87 percent from the foul line.
 
THE SERIES
The Bulldogs and 49ers have squared off as conference opponents every season except one (2020-21) since they joined C-USA in 2013 with LA Tech leading the series, 9-1.
 
LA Tech, who has won three straight, has come away with three narrow wins in Halton Arena, winning by six points or less each time including last season's 82-77 victory.  
 
Saturday's matchup will mark the earliest meeting between LA Tech and Charlotte. The earliest meeting previously was when the two faced off on Jan. 9 during the 2015-16 season.
 
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