RUSTON – The Louisiana Tech men's basketball team takes its five-game winning streak on the road to face New Mexico on Wednesday night inside The Pit.
GAME INFORMATION
Date/Time: Wednesday, Nov. 29 | 8 p.m. CT
Location: The Pit (Albuquerque, N.M.)
TV/Stream: Mountain West Network
Radio: LA Tech Sports Network | LA Tech Athletics App
Stats: LATechSports.com/Stats
ABOUT LOUISIANA TECH (5-1)
LA Tech rolled to its fifth consecutive win this past Saturday, scoring 62 first-half points in route to a 105-65 pounding of Dillard. The Bulldogs set season highs for points, made field goals (39), and rebounds (45) while tying their season highs with 12 made three-pointers and 15 steals.
Daniel Batcho, despite playing only 13 minutes, stacked up 17 points and a career-high 14 rebounds as the forward notched his second double-double of the season. Since becoming eligible, the forward is averaging 14.0 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks per game.
The Bulldog bench ended up scoring 67 points against the Bleu Devils, the most since scoring 68 on Feb. 20, 2013 against Central Baptist. The bench is averaging 34.17 points per game this season, which ranks first in Conference USA and 18th in the country.
Devin Ree was a big reason for the scoring output from the bench, posting a career-high 21 points. Other scoring from non-starters were
Jaylin Henderson tallying his team-leading fifth double-digit scoring game with 12 points and
Jordan Turner tying his career high with 10 points.
Defense has been a major contributor to LA Tech's five-game winning streak. During this span, opponents are only averaging 57.2 points per game while shooting just 36.2 percent from the field and 27.3 percent from beyond the arc.
ABOUT NEW MEXICO (5-1)
New Mexico is riding a four-game winning streak into Wednesday's game, having defeated UT Arlington at home while also claiming the Ball Dawgs Classic title after victories over Toledo, Rice, and Pepperdine in Henderson, Nevada.
The Lobos are putting up plenty of points so far this season, averaging 90.7 per game which ranks 19th in the country, while shooting 52.3 percent from the field. They have scored 90+ points in four of their six games this season.
Their scoring power has come from a trio of Lobos – Donovan Dent, Jamal Mashburn Jr., and JT Toppin – Which make up 56.9 percent of New Mexico's points. Dent and Mashburn Jr. (preseason All-MWC Team selection) are averaging 18.5 and 18.2 points per game, respectively. Toppin is not far behind averaging 14.2 points as well as a team-best 8.3 rebounds per game. Then there is Jaelen House, a First Team All-MWC last season, who might be available after missing the last five games due to injury.
New Mexico was picked to finish third in the MWC preseason poll. The Lobos, under the direction of head coach Richard Pitino, went 22-12 last season and was the last undefeated team in the country after starting the year, 14-0, and climbing to as high as No. 21 in the country. That season was capped off by a trip to the National Invitation Tournament.
THE SERIES
This will be the third meeting between LA Tech and New Mexico with the Lobos taking both matchups in Albuquerque. UNM defeated the Bulldogs in the 1992 NIT. They faced off again in 2009 with the Lobos coming out on top, 81-52.
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