RUSTON – The Louisiana Tech Men's Basketball team looks to remain unbeaten at home when the Bulldogs host the Colonels of Nicholls on Saturday afternoon inside the Thomas Assembly Center on Karl Malone Court.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Date/Time: Saturday, Dec. 2 | 2 p.m. CT
Location: Thomas Assembly Center on Karl Malone Court (Ruston, La.)
TV/Stream: ESPN+
Talent: Lyn Rollins (pxp), Victor Howell (analyst)
Radio: LA Tech Sports Network | LA Tech Athletics App
Talent: Malcolm Butler (pxp), Jack Thigpen (analyst)
Stats: LATechSports.com/Stats
Tickets: LATechSports.com/Tickets
 
ABOUT LOUISIANA TECH (5-2)
LA Tech had its five-game winning streak snapped this past Wednesday, falling at New Mexico by a final score of 74-65.  The Bulldogs struggled offensively, suffering a season low in total points and in field goal percentage at just 35.6 percent.
 
Isaiah Crawford had a game-high 24 points in the loss, his third 20+ scoring performance of the season.  He is averaging a team-best 15.6 points per game while shooting 53.5 percent from the field and 36.8 percent from beyond the arc.  His other 24-point effort came at ULM in the third game of the season.
 
With starting point guard Sean Newman Jr. being limited against the Lobos due to an injury early in the game, Jordan Crawford stepped up to score a season-high 12 points.  It was his first double-digit scoring effort of the season and the seventh of his career.
 
Daniel Batcho nearly had his third double-double of the season, recording nine points and a game-high 12 rebounds.  He is now averaging a double-double though with 13.0 points and 10.0 boards per game.  He is currently one of only 24 players in the country averaging a double-double.
 
Despite the loss, the Bulldog defend held UNM, which came into the contest with a top-20 scoring offense, to its second fewest points of the season.  LA Tech currently ranks 32nd in the country in field goal percentage defense (38.4), having held five of its seven opponents to under 40 percent shooting. 
 
ABOUT NICHOLLS (3-5)
Nicholls wraps up its three-game road swing on Saturday when they face LA Tech in Ruston.  The Colonels are coming off back-to-back road losses against nationally ranked opponents, falling 74-61 at No. 25 Mississippi State and 108-70 at No. 9 Baylor this past Tuesday.
 
The Colonels have spent the bulk of their non-conference slate so far away from Thibodaux.  Of their eight games, they have played five on the road as well as two neutral-site contests. 
 
Their most impressive win came on the road back on Nov. 10, upsetting LSU in Baton Rouge by a score of 68-66.  They led by as much as 24 points, but needed a game-winning three-pointer with one second left to down the Tigers.
 
Jamal West Jr., who hit the three-pointer to beat LSU, is averaging a team-best 17.9 points per game.  The transfer from Clarendon College has scored in double figures in seven of their eight games, including a season-high 31 in a triple over victory at South Alabama.
 
Nicholls, who was picked to finish sixth in the Southland Conference preseason poll, does much of its damage from behind the arc.  They average 26.9 three-point attempts per game, which ranks first in the Southland and 42nd in the country.  They average 8.0 made threes per game and are also efficient from the free throw line, shooting 75.0 percent which is good for 56th in the nation.
 
THE SERIES
LA Tech leads the all-time series against Nicholls State, 16-2.  The Bulldogs have won four straight over the Colonels, including a 79-54 victory in their last meeting back on Dec. 18, 2014 in Ruston.
 
The Bulldogs are 8-1 all-time versus the Colonels in Ruston with only three of those matchups coming inside the Thomas Assembly Center.  The two in-state programs have faced one another only twice in the last 20 years.  The majority of their meetings came from 1965-71 when they were league foes in the Gulf States Conference.
 
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