Bulldogs to finish regular season
RUSTON, La. – Louisiana Tech will close out the regular season on Wednesday night when they host Our Lady of the Lake at 7 p.m. inside the Thomas Assembly Center on Karl Malone Court.
Louisiana Tech (196) put together its most complete series this past weekend in the 101-57 and 79-58 victories over Rice.
On offense, the Bulldogs shot 49.6 percent from the floor, 48.1 percent from deep and 80.0 percent from the foul line.
Defensively, the Bulldogs recorded 20 steals (season-high 10 in each game) while holding Rice to its two worst shooting performances of the season at 32.3 percent and 33.9 percent.
The Owls came into Ruston shooting 37.1 percent from three, second best in the league, and were limited to 26.1 percent.
With Louisiana Tech's third sweep in the last four series, they clinched a first round bye in the C-USA Tournament, finishing conference with a 12-4 record. The 12 league wins is the most of anyone in C-USA. The Bulldogs have won eight of their last nine.
Kalob Ledoux returned to form in the two-game series, averaging 21.0 points while shooting 54.2 percent from the field and 64.3 percent from deep (connected on nine threes).
Doing damage inside was Kenneth Lofton Jr. who averaged 16.5 points and 8.0 rebounds. As a result, he was voted as the C-USA Freshman of the Week for the fifth consecutive time and the eighth overall.
The Bulldogs recorded their two highest assist totals of the season against Rice, dishing out 23 on Friday and 19 on Saturday. Amorie Archibald registered 13 of those, including a season-high eight in game one. Wednesday will mark the senior's 100th career start.
Our Lady of the Lake (1-4) ended up not playing any games in the Red River Athletic Conference. Instead, the Saints have played five Division I opponents -- Incarnate Word, Texas State, Texas A&MCorpus Christi, UTSA and Houston.
OLLU's lone win came on Dec. 12 in a 61-58 victory at Texas State who went on to claim its first Sun Belt Conference championship title.
The Saints have only played one game this calendar year at Houston back on Feb. 6. Following their game in Ruston, they will travel back to Houston to face Rice on Friday.
Ruben Monzon anchors the Saints on both ends of the floor. He is averaging a team-best 12.2 points per game while shooting 55.3 percent from the field. Defensively, he has averaging a team-best 6.6 rebounds per game.
Wednesday will be the first-ever meeting between Louisiana Tech and Our Lady of the Lake on the hardwood.