RUSTON – After helping Louisiana Tech sweep its last road trip of the regular season, AJ Bates and Jaylen Fenner swept the Conference USA weekly awards, as announced by the league office Sunday.
 
Bates was voted CUSA Player of the Week while Fenner was named CUSA Freshman of the Week after both Bulldogs were pivotal in upsetting first-place Liberty, 76-71, followed by a dominant 81-38 victory over Delaware, never trailing in either contest.
 
Bates stuffed the stat sheet, averaging 21.5 points, 6.5 assists, 4.5 rebounds, and 2.5 steals in the two games.  The sophomore delivered a spectacular performance versus the Flames, pouring in a career-high 34 points on 13-of-23 shooting, including 6-of-11 from three-point range, while adding four rebounds, four assists, and three steals in a full 40-minute effort.
 
Two days later, the Houston, Texas native orchestrated the offense, narrowly missing out on a double-double with a game-high nine assists to go along with nine points, five boards, and two steals.
 
His teammate, Fenner, averaged 12.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 2.5 steals in the two victories.  The freshman came up big in big moments, particularly against Liberty when he scored LA Tech's last six points to put the Flames away. 
 
Then against the Blue Hens, scored eight of his 14 points during a 28-0 run to blow out Delaware in the regular season finale.  The Humble, Texas native added five boards and three steals to his stat sheet.
 
Both Bates and Fenner were key components on defense as well.  They helped the Bulldogs to hold one of the top offenses in the country in LU to just 41.8 percent shooting on their home floor, its second lowest of the season.  Then they teamed up to hold UD to just 38 total points, the fewest ever allowed by LA Tech in a CUSA game.
 
This is the third CUSA weekly award earned by Bates, who took home Freshman of the Week honors twice last season.  For Fenner, this is the first conference weekly honor of his collegiate career.
 
LA Tech looks to ride this momentum into the 2026 Air National Guard Conference USA Basketball Championships at VBC Propst Arena in Huntsville, Alabama.  The Bulldogs earned the No. 4 seed and will take on No. 5 seed Middle Tennessee on Thursday, March 12 at 5:30 p.m. CT.
 
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