Christon nets dozen in losses
AUSTIN, TEXAS — Former Hot Springs standout Exavian Christon saw 30 minutes of game time last week for Louisiana Tech, but the Bulldogs dropped one game on the road and one at home.
Louisiana Tech (7-4) fell 75-60 Saturday at the Frank Erwin center in Austin, Texas, to the home Texas Longhorns (7-3). The Bulldogs were down by as much as 17 points in the first half, but the Bulldogs chipped away with defense and got to within four points on two different occasions midway through the second half. The Longhorns used their size to push their lead back out to double-digits and finish on top.
“We did not get off to a good start,” Louisiana Tech head coach Eric Konkol said. “We turned the ball over a lot early and really did not get a good rhythm on the perimeter which is a big part of our game.
“I am proud of our guys for fighting and battling on the interior, on the backboards. We got the game down to four points there in the second half but could not make enough plays to really make it a game.”
Guard DaQuan Bracey only had four points in that first period, but started heating up in the second. He made nine straight points in in the span of
71 seconds to pull the ‘Dogs within four at 52-48 with
10:48 remaining.
Louisiana Tech shot a season-low 34 percent from the field, 21 of 62, while making just six 3-pointers. Bracey ended up with a game-high and new
career-high 24 points.
Christon shot 2-for-4 and grabbed four points rebounds in
15 minutes.
As a team, Texas shot 49 percent from the field, 24 of 4, and
43 percent from 3-point range, 6 of 14. Osetkowski finished with a game-high 22 points while Bamba added 14.
The Bulldog’s trailed at home a week ago by as much as 18 points to Louisiana-Lafayette (82) inside the Thomas Assembly Center. They mounted a comeback late in the second half, but ran out of time in a 75-71 loss.
Despite being held to a season-low 25 points in the first half, Louisiana Tech still shot well enough to win – 50 percent from the field, 54 percent from three and 78 percent from the foul line. Committing a season-high 18 turnovers and giving up 13 offensive rebounds cost the Bulldogs again.
“We turned the ball over a lot offensively,” Konkol said. “We got shots and were able to make them. We’ve just got to do a better job of taking care of the ball against a little bit of pressure and a couple changes in angles – we’ve got to fix that.
“But then defensively, that’s something we’ve got to be able to hang our hat on every night, and we’re not doing that right now. We’ve got to get better. We’ve got to mature in that facet of being a grinding, nasty, tougher team and getting key stops. We also need to start the game off correctly, with the type of intensity that we need.”
Three Bulldogs scored in double figures, led by Jalen Harris who had a team-high 19 points on 6 of 10 shooting. Bracey registered 14 points to go along with six assists and Joniah White finished with a career-tying 10 points and team-high six boards.
Christon shot 3-for-4 against Louisiana-Lafayette, including
2-for-2 from 3-point, to notch eight points.
Louisiana Tech will look to end its two-game losing skid on Thursday when the team faces Alabama State in the New Orleans Shootout. Tipoff is set for
2:30 p.m.