Bulldogs struggle offensively, fall to Herd

HUNTINGTON, West Virginia – It was a frustrating Saturday night for Louisiana Tech as they committed a season-high 20 turnovers which played a big part in falling, 78-65, to Marshall in the Cam Henderson Center.

There were two rough stretches of basketball that cost LA Tech (9-6, 0-2 C-USA) an opportunity at handing Marshall (11-4, 2-0 C-USA) their first home loss while also picking up its first true road win – the final five minutes of the first half and the final 10 minutes of the second half.

At the point in the first stanza, the Bulldogs were up by six but they did not make another field goal before going to the locker room. Meanwhile, Marshall went on a 12-2 run to grab a five-point advantage at halftime.

The deficit got up to 11 in the second stanza before the ‘Dogs sliced it down to four on a three-pointer by Jacobi Boykins with 9:18 to play. LA Tech scored only one point for the next six minutes that did them in.

“I thought through the first 15 minutes of the game that we were playing very well, defending and getting into a good flow offensively,” head coach Eric Konkol said. “Then we just could not continue that. You give a lot of credit to Marshall who played hard.

“We turned the ball over an awful lot. I thought our half-court defense, when we were set, was pretty strong. We gave up some live-ball turnovers that turned into points and really took the wind out of our sails.”

Both teams got off to sluggish starts offensively, but that was just as much due to the defenses. Through the first five minutes of action, the score was just 4-4.

It was at the 5:27 mark when Joniah White made a strong layup to give LA Tech a 29-23 advantage. Up to that point, the Bulldogs had made 12 of their 19 shot attempts and limited a potent Herd offense.

The ‘Dogs then went ice cold just like the weather in Huntington, missing their next eight field goals to go down by five heading into the locker room.

DaQuan Bracey, who had just two points in the first half, scored the team’s first seven points of the second half to keep the deficit close.

A quick 7-0 run with another triple by Boykins and back-to-back layups by Bracey had the score at 49-45 in favor of Marshall with 12:23 to play.

Boykins’ second three kept the deficit at four three minutes later, but then the offensive struggles happened again. LA Tech missed its next seven shot attempts over the next six minutes of action.

Meanwhile for the Herd, their dynamic guard duo of Jon Elmore and C.J. Burks were taking over the game, combining for 55 points.

LA Tech shot 41 percent from the field (23-56) and 38 percent from three-point range (6-16). The guard trio of Bracey (14), Boykins (15) and Jean (14) all scored in double figures. Oliver Powell came off the bench to register eight points and a career-high nine rebounds.

Marshall were 25-of-57 from the field for 44 percent and 8-of-20 from beyond the arc for 40 percent. They also made 20 free throws, 11 of those coming by Elmore who ended with a game-high 32 points. Burks added 23.

LA Tech will now head back to Ruston with its next matchup versus UTSA on Thursday, Jan. 4 inside the Thomas Assembly Center on Karl Malone Court. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m.

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