Bulldogs to take on Blazers

RUSTON, La. – With five conference games remaining, Louisiana Tech will now face five straight opponents for a second time this season, starting with hosting UAB on tonight at 8 p.m. inside the Thomas Assembly Center on Karl Malone Court.

The game will be nationally-televised on the CBS Sports Network.

The two teams are separated by only one game in the league standings with Louisiana Tech (1511, 6-7 C-USA) tied for eighth and UAB (16-10, 7-6 C-USA) currently in seventh.

The Bulldogs will attempt to even the season series, as they suffered a 12-point loss to the Blazers in Birmingham last month.

Louisiana Tech will also look to rebound from an 82-69 loss at the hands of Old Dominion this past Saturday.

The Bulldogs were able to hit their outside shots, connecting on 13 three-pointers, but they committed a season-high 20 turnovers.

Eight of those

three-pointers came from senior guard Jacobi Boykins and junior guard Derric Jean with each player knocking in four.

For Boykins, it was the 10th time this season he has made at least four threes in a single game.

For Jean, that tied a career high. Boykins, who finished with a gamehigh 20 points in the loss to the Monarchs, now needs just 13 more three-pointers to break his single-season record which he set last season with 89.

He is also just 13 points away from becoming just the 26th player in program history to register 1,300 career points. Thursday will be his second to last game in the TAC.

After beginning conference play 4-1, UAB has since gone 3-5 in league action.

They were able to snap a two-game losing skid by outlasting Rice at home 61-56.

Leading the way for the Blazers is forward Chris Cokley, who is playing like a first team all-conference selection.

The senior is averaging a team-best 18.1 points and 9.3 rebounds per game.

The other UAB player who is averaging double figures in scoring is freshman guard Zach Bryant, who is averaging 12.8 points per game.

Fellow starters – sophomore guard Nate Darling and senior forward William Lee – are close to that mark, averaging 9.9 and 9.7 points per game, respectively.

UAB currently ranks in the top two in the league in assists per game (17.0), field goal percentage (48.7), field goal percentage defense (41.4) and rebounding margin (6.8).

The Bulldogs trail the all-time series with the Blazers 8-4.

Since becoming conference opponents in 2013-14, each team has won four times in the series.

Louisiana Tech is 2-0 against UAB in Ruston, winning 74-71 in 2015 and 85-76 in 2016.