Bulldogs set to start road trip

RUSTON, La. – Louisiana Tech is set for another challenging road swing in Conference USA, beginning on Thursday night against preseason favorite Western Kentucky with tipoff set for 8 p.m. inside E.A. Diddle Arena.

Louisiana Tech (17-5, 8-2 C-USA) is riding a four-game winning streak after sweeping its home games this past weekend. First was a 72-59 victory over Charlotte and then DaQuan Bracey hit a game-winning 3-pointer to help the Bulldogs get past Old Dominion 76-73 on Saturday.

Bracey, who is shooting 50.6 percent from beyond the arc this season, making four of the team’s 11 3-pointers and the squad made a season-high 19 free throws to snap a four-game losing streak to the Monarchs.

Louisiana Tech, who is in a tie for first in the league standings, looks to continue its strong play on the road as they are the only team in C-USA with a winning road record this season, having gone 6-4 away from home. The Bulldogs are also 4-1 in road conference games, having won three straight at UTEP, Middle Tennessee and UAB.

Western Kentucky (14-8, 7-3 C-USA) is in third place in the standings following two close losses on the road to Florida Atlantic and Florida International this past week. They are 9-1 at home this season and a perfect 5-0 at home against league opponents.

The Hilltoppers have one of the top offenses in the league, averaging 76.6 points per game while shooting 46.4 percent from the field. Both marks rank third in C-USA. They excel in two specific categories – free throw shooting and not committing fouls.

They lead the league at 78.4 percent from the charity stripe, a mark which ranks fifth in the country. And they only commit 13.6 fouls per game, a mark which also ranks fifth in the country.

All five of the Hilltoppers’ current starters average double-figure points, led by Taveion Hollingsworth, who is averaging 15.4 points per contest.