RUSTON – Louisiana Tech and UL-Lafayette square off the 171st time on Saturday inside the Thomas Assembly Center on Karl Malone Court in what is a century-old rivalry.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Date/Time: Saturday, Dec. 13 | 2 p.m. CT
Location: Thomas Assembly Center
TV: ESPN+
Radio: LA Tech Sports Network (107.5 FM) | LA Tech Athletics app
Tickets: LATechSports.com/Tickets
Promotion: Throwback Game | T-Shirt Giveaway
Sponsor: Reeves Memorial Medical Center
 
ABOUT LOUISIANA TECH (5-3)
LA Tech improved to 5-0 at home this season after rolling past Ecclesia College 89-37 this past Sunday. The Bulldogs shot a blistering 65.4 percent from the field while holding the Royals to just 24.1 percent shooting. LA Tech used a 25-2 run to race out to a 40-11 halftime lead, never trailing in the contest. Versus Ecclesia College, LA Tech set season highs in field goal percentage (65.4), three-point field goal percentage (45.8), made three-pointers (11), and assists (24).
 
LA Tech continues to rank high defensively. The Bulldogs are allowing just 58.5 points per game, which ranks fourth in the country (only three opponents have scored over 60 points). Meanwhile, they also rank top 10 in the nation in both field goal percentage defense (36.6) and three-point field goal percentage defense (26.1). LA Tech and Kansas are currently the only teams that have not allowed a single opponent to shoot over 30 per­cent from beyond the arc in a game this season.
 
The Bulldogs used their fourth different starting lineup in eight games with DJ Dudley, Will Jeffress, and Sir Issac Herron getting their first starts of the year. Even so, the LA Tech bench continued to provide scoring, netting 37 points (sixth time this season with 35+ points) versus the Royals. The bench is averaging 40.13 points per contest, ranking ninth in the country. The 'Dogs have outscored their opponents' bench, 321-124, this season.
 
Kaden Cooper scored a season-high 20 points against Ecclesia College, his second career 20+ scoring performance as a Bulldog. The junior guard has scored in double figures a team-high five times this season. He also paces the team currently in total rebounds (56), blocks (11), and steals (10).
 
AJ Bates tallied his first career double-double with 14 points and a career-high 10 assists against Ecclesia. He leads the Bulldogs in scoring at 11.6 points per game. Over the last four contests, he is averaging 15.8 points while shooting 63.2 percent from the field and 56.3 percent from three-point range. Bates is also averaging a team-high 5.9 assists per game, which ranks 30th in the nation.
 
DJ Dudley scored in double figures for a fourth straight game, netting 12 points versus the Royals. Over the last four games, the junior is averaging 16.3 points (including 26-point effort at Georgia Southern.
 
ABOUT UL-LAFAYETTE (1-9)
UL-Lafayette is looking to put a stop to an eight-game losing streak. The lone win for the Ragin' Cajuns this season came in the sec­ond game, which was a 58-52 home victory against Southeastern Louisiana. Their most recent defeat came in Lafayette against UNC Wilmington, falling 70-63. They are in a stretch of playing eight of 10 games on the road.
 
ULL, who was picked to finished ninth in the Sun Belt Conference preseason coaches' poll, is led by first-year head coach Quannas White. He previously spent eight seasons at the Uni­versity of Houston, including the past two years as the Cougar's associate head coach.
 
ULL has been hit with the injury bug this sea­son. Former LA Tech forward Sean Elkinton will miss the entire year due to a foot injury. The Ragin' Cajuns also are missing Jamyron Keller. The transfer from Oklahoma State was averaging 17.0 points through the first two contests, including a 21-point effort in the season opener at Ball State. However, the guard has missed every game since.
 
The primary scorers for the Ragin' Cajuns are Jaxon Olvera and Dorian Finister, averaging 12.7 and 11.3 points per game, respectively. The duo has combined to take 42 percent of ULL's field goal attempts. They also anchor the team in rebounding, averaging nearly five boards per game.
 
THE SERIES
LA Tech leads the all-time series versus ULL, 93-77. The Bulldogs have won two straight and five of the last seven, including a 69-58 victory over the Cajuns last season in Lafayette.
 
Between 1926 and 1973, they played almost every year – of­ten twice a season – forging one of the region's most consistent, fiery basketball matchups. After a brief two-year interruption due to ULL not fielding a team as part of an NCAA ban, the rivalry picked right back up from 1975 through 2001.
 
During that span, the two battled as members of six different conferences: Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association, Louisiana Intercollegiate Conference, Gulf States Conference, Southland Conference, America South Conference, and the Sun Belt Conference.
 
Around the turn of the century, LA Tech departed for the Western Athletic Conference. But even conference realignment couldn't cool the feud. The teams have met 18 times as non-conference opponents since, including a steady home-and-home series every year since 2013.
 
Since 2000, LA Tech owns only a 12–11 edge, and the scoring margin across those games is nearly identical: LA Tech 1,695, ULL 1,675.
 
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