Louisiana Tech set to face Middle Tennessee in tourney
RUSTON, La. — Louisiana Tech earned the No. 2 seed and will take on No. 7 seed Middle Tennessee in the Conference USA Basketball Championship quarterfinals on Wednesday night inside VBC Propst Arena.
ABOUT LOUISIANA TECH (22-9)
Louisiana Tech will be looking for the same result against Middle Tennessee as the Bulldogs closed out the regular season with an 84-70 win over the Blue Raiders in Ruston.
The Bulldogs led wire-towire, winning with defense (held the Blue Raiders to 37.7% shooting) and controlling the paint (plus-11 rebounding margin and plus-28 paint points). It was the scoring trio of Isaiah Crawford, Daniel Batcho, and Tahlik Chavez that combined for 57 points, each registering 19.
Louisiana Tech is set for play in its 10th Conference USA Tournament, having compiled an 11-9 record. Of the nine tournaments, the Bulldogs have won at least one game in eight of them and advanced to the semifinals five times.
ABOUT MIDDLE TENN. (13-18)
Middle Tennessee finished the season in a four-way tie for fourth in the league standings with a 7-9 record.
As a result of tiebreakers, the Blue Raiders earned the No. 7 seed in the Conference USA Tournament. The Blue Raiders lost their first four conference games but won seven of their last 12.
Middle Tennessee has been getting to the free-throw line a lot in league play and have been cashing in.
The Blue Raiders ranked second in league play in free throw percentage at 74.2. They got to the free throw line 29 times against Louisiana Tech, making 23 of them. They have now shot at least 79% from the foul line in five of their last seven contests.
Middle Tennessee is led by a trio of Blue Raiders -- Jestin Porter, Elias King, and Jared Coleman-Jones.
Porter, who was voted second team All-Conference USA, leads the way with an average of 13.7 points per game.
During league play, the guard averaged 17.0 points per contest which ranked third best in the conference.
King was named honorable mention All-Conference USA, averaging 12.9 points per game. The guard recorded 19 points and 11 rebounds versus Louisiana Tech in his last outing.
Coleman-Jones, a third team All-Conference USA selection, is averaging 11.1 points as well as a team-high 7.5 rebounds per game. He has registered seven double-doubles of the season, second most in the league.