RUSTON – Louisiana Tech plays its final home game of the season on Saturday afternoon as the Bulldogs host FIU inside the Thomas Assembly Center on Karl Malone Court.
 
LA Tech will honor three managers -- Lucas Doutt, Garrett Warren and Quin Daily -- and four Bulldogs -- Sir Issac Herron, Scooter Williams, Will Jeffress, and Will Allen -- as part of Senior Day.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Date/Time: Saturday, Feb. 28 | 2 p.m. CT
Location: Thomas Assembly Center
TV: ESPN+
Radio: LA Tech Sports Network | LA Tech Athletics app
Tickets: LATechSports.com/Tickets
Game Sponsor: Northern Louisiana Medical Center
Promotion: Senior Day (ceremony to take place pregame)
 
ABOUT LOUISIANA TECH (16-12, 9-8 CUSA)
LA Tech is in a three-way tie for fourth in the league standings with three games remaining. The top 10 teams qualify for the Conference USA Tournament with the top six getting a first-round bye. The event, held in Huntsville, Alabama for a third straight year, runs March 10-14.
 
Will Allen turned in a career performance that included a go-ahead putback with eight seconds remaining to lift LA Tech to a 72-70 victory over Missouri State on Thursday night to sweep the season series. The fifth-year senior, playing in his 116th game as a Bulldog, registered a career-high 13 points to go along with eight rebounds, three steals, and two blocks in a back-and-forth contest that featured 12 ties and 14 lead changes. LA Tech improved to 12-0 this season when scoring 70+ points and are now 5-1 in games decided by one possession.
 
LA Tech's defense recorded seven steals and 11 blocks against MSU. Over the last six games, the team is averaging 9.2 steals and 7.5 blocks. For the season, LA Tech ranks 19th in the nation in blocks per game (5.0). Melian Martinez is a big reason for that as the center is averaging 1.88 blocks, which ranks 33rd in the country.
 
He had a career-high seven rejections versus MSU, which is tied for the seventh most in a single game in program history. It also tied for the third most ever by a Bulldog in a CUSA game. He now has 45 total blocks this season (has 15 in the last three games), putting him five blocks shy of becoming the 19th Bulldog in program history to reach 50 career rejections.
 
LA Tech continues to rank top 10 in the country in both scoring de­fense (64.7) and field goal percentage defense (39.1). The Bulldogs, who are also tops in both defensive categories during league play only, have held 23 of their 28 opponents under their scoring average.
 
The Bulldogs connected on nine three-pointers versus MSU, tied for the third most in a single game this season. LA Tech, which is only averaging 5.7 made threes per game, has made at least seven triples in four of their last five home contests.
 
DJ Dudley tallied a season-high 27 points against the Bears, going 10-of-19 from the field. The junior made five of his last seven including a putback layup with 51 seconds left that gave the Bulldogs their first lead since the 14:52 mark of the second half. It was his seventh 20+ scoring performance this season. He is now averaging a team-best 14.2 points for the season and 15.9 points during CUSA play (ranks 11th). Dudley is now 33 points shy of reaching 1,000 for his collegiate career.
 
AJ Bates registered five assists against MSU, marking the 18th time this season with at least five dimes (has done so in nine of the last 10 games). The sophomore currently ranks 31st in the country in both total assists (162) and assists per game (5.8). He moved up to 23rd on the career assists list at LA Tech, now with 211. He needs 11 more dimes to crack the top 10 list for single-season assists at LA Tech.
 
After recording seven points and seven rebounds against the Bears, Kaden Cooper is still averaging a double-double over the last six games with 12.0 points and 10.5 rebounds. He also has totaled 14 steals during this stretch for an average of 2.3 per contest (multiple steals in all five).
 
ABOUT FIU (13-15, 6-11 CUSA)
FIU is in a three-way tie for ninth in the confer­ence standings following a 100-67 loss at Sam Houston on Thursday, their biggest loss of the season. The Panthers never led in the contest, getting down 16-0 to the Bearkats to start the game.
 
FIU is 2-10 in road contests this season, win­ning at New Mexico State and Middle Tennes­see in league play (snapped their 21-game CUSA road losing streak).
 
FIU leans heavily into its offense, which is aver­aging 80.9 points per game. That average has not dropped off much during league play with the Panthers averaging 76.6 points, a scoring offense that ranks third. Meanwhile defensively, the pesky FIU defense ranks top 10 in the country in both steals per game (9.5) and turnovers forced per game (15.18).
 
Leading the charge on offense is senior Corey Stephenson, a transfer from Cal State Bakers­field. He is averaging 17.9 points per game this season, which ranks fourth in CUSA. He has scored in double figures in all but one of the 27 games this season, including a career-high 34 at Middle Tennessee.
 
THE SERIES
LA Tech leads the all-time series versus FIU, 15-9.  The two programs were league foes in the Sun Belt Conference for three seasons (1998-2001) before becoming league opponents again in 2013 when both programs joined Conference USA.
 
Since becoming CUSA foes, LA Tech holds a 12-6 advantage having won nine of the last 11 meetings. The Panthers snapped the Bulldogs six-game winning streak in the series two weeks ago with a 13-point win in Miami.
 
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