Louisiana Tech to finish regular season at home

By Louisiana Tech Sports Information RUSTON, La. — Louisiana Tech closes out the regular season with two home games, starting on Thursday night against Sam Houston.

ABOUT LOUISIANA TECH (21-8, 11-3 CUSA)

Louisiana Tech won its third conference road game in seven days, outlasting Western Kentucky 90-84. It was the most points allowed by the Bulldogs all season, but they were able to outscore the top offense in the league.

Sean Newman Jr. had arguably his best game as a Bulldog, registering career highs in points (19) and rebounds (7) while also dishing out eight assists.

Isaiah Crawford had another stellar game as well, scoring a team-high 20 points, which was his ninth 20-plus scoring performance of the season.

After missing the first matchup against Western Kentucky, Tahlik Chavez made his presence felt by scoring 16 points while going 4-of-7 from long range.

Daniel Batcho was a fourth Bulldog that scored in double figures, posting 15 points. The forward also had four blocks, including a pivotal one of the closing minutes that denied the Hilltoppers a chance to tie the game.

ABOUT SAM HOUSTON (18-11, 11-3 CUSA) Since losing back-to-back road games to Florida International and Jacksonville State, Sam Houston has reeled off a season-high five straight wins, winning by double-digits in all five games.

Most recently, the Bearkats were 81-64 winners over Middle Tennessee at home. The Blue Raiders sliced their deficit down to single digits at 58-50 with 11:23 to go, but the Bearkats responded with a 14-4 run to put the game out of reach.

The Bearkats are particularly known for being one of the top rebounding teams in Conference USA.

They rank top 75 in the country in both rebounds per game (38.00) and offensive rebounds per game (11.79). They have outrebounded 10 of their 14 league opponents, seven of which were outrebounded by 10-plus boards.

During league play, Sam Houston has been the top three-point shooting team (38%) as well as the top defender of three-point shooting (allowing teams to shoot just 32.5%).

Their top two scoring threats are Lamar Wilkerson and Davon Barnes who are averaging 14.1 and 13.9 points per game, respectively.