RUSTON – The Louisiana Tech Men's Basketball team begins its 97th season of hoops on Monday night as the Bulldogs open the 2023-24 campaign on the road against Colorado State.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Date/Time: Monday, Nov. 6 | 9 p.m. CT
Location: Moby Arena (Fort Collins, Colo.)
TV/Stream: Mountain West Network
Stats: LATechSports.com/Stats
 
ABOUT LOUISIANA TECH (0-0)
LA Tech heads into year two under head coach Talvin Hester.  The anchor of the Bulldogs this season will be Isaiah Crawford who was named as the Conference USA Preseason Player of the Year in a vote by the league head coaches.
 
After recovering from his second season-ending knee injury, the two-time All-Conference USA forward averaged a team-best 13.7 points per game.  He also led the 'Dogs with 5.3 rebounds per game and in total steals with 62, the sixth most in a single season in program history. 
 
Other key returns for LA Tech, who was picked to finish fourth in the CUSA preseason poll, include Dravon Mangum (averaged 7.2 points while making 20 starts), Will Allen (started 18 games), and Jordan Crawford (named to CUSA All-Freshman Team after leading the Bulldogs in total assists with 100). 
 
There will be plenty of new faces expected to make their Bulldog debut including transfers Tyler Henry (Southern Indiana), Sean Newman Jr. (Fullerton College), Jordan Turner (Baylor), Tahlik Chavez (Charleston Southern), Devin Ree (Louisville), and more.
 
ABOUT COLORADO STATE (0-0)
Colorado State was picked to finish fifth in the Mountain West Conference preseason poll.  The Rams look to bounce back from a 15-18 season in 2022-23, this after making back-to-back postseason appearances including an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament in 2022.
 
The Rams are led by MWC Preseason Player of the Year Isaiah Stevens who is a four-time All-MWC selection.  Last season, the guard averaged 17.9 points, 6.7 assists, and 3.4 rebounds per game for CSU.  He was also named to the Bob Cousy Award Preseason Watch List, an annual award given to the top men's collegiate point guard.
 
Another key returner for the Rams is Patrick Cartier.  The forward averaged 12.3 points and 3.1 rebounds per game for CSU last season, shooting 64.7 percent from the field which ranked as the sixth-best single-season mark in program history.
 
Niko Medved enters his sixth year as the head coach of the Rams.  He came back to Colorado State where he was an assistant coach from 2007-13.  He was voted the 2021 Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year and is a two-time USBWA District Coach of the Year recipient.
 
THE SERIES
LA Tech and CSU have met only once on the hardwood, matching up in the 2021 NIT Final Four in Frisco, Texas at the Comerica Center.  The Bulldogs trailed by as much as 11 points with less than nine minutes to play in the game, but completed the double-digit comeback by scoring the game-winning bucket with less than one second remaining to claim third place as part of the consolation game.
 
Preseason Player of the Year honorees Isaiah Crawford and Isaiah Stevens are the only two players remaining on their teams that played in that game.  Crawford had 13 points, seven rebounds, and five assists while Stevens had a team-high 18 points and seven assists.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
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