LA Tech drops hard-fought defensive battle at No. 23 Texas Tech

LUBBOCK, Texas – The Louisiana Tech Men’s Basketball team dropped a low-scoring, defensive slugfest to No. 23 Texas Tech with the final score being 64-55 on Monday night in front of 13,027 fans inside United Supermarkets Arena.

LA Tech (1-1) matched, and sometimes surpassed, the defensive intensity of Texas Tech (3-0) who is consistently one of the top defensive teams in the country. Case in point, the Bulldogs totaled nine steals while forcing 20 turnovers, turning those into 20 points.

However, turnovers proved costly early on for the ‘Dogs. They committed five of them within the first three minutes of the game, quickly falling behind 8-0 in a hostile environment.

The Red Raiders ended up pushing their lead out to 30-17 with 2:20 to go in the first half. For that final 2:20, the Bulldogs played some of their best basketball of the night. The visitors closed out the stanza on a 10-2 run, making three straight baskets by Kenny Hunter, Jordan Crawford, and Kaleb Stewart as well as getting three free throws from Keaston Willis.

After trailing by just five (32-27) at the midway point, LA Tech got back to within one possession four different times and had a chance to take its first lead of the game at one point. Down, 39-37, with 14:05 to play, Texas Tech went on a 14-1 run to take its largest lead at 53-38.

The ‘Dogs fought back, getting the deficit back down to single digits after back-to-back three-pointers by Cobe Williams and then again with some late pressure which turned into points, but the Red Raiders held off upset-minded LA Tech.

Williams finished with a game-high 16 points despite playing only six minutes in the first half due to foul trouble. Hunter came off the bench to add 10 points while Willis added nine points and a team-high seven boards and Crawford dished out six assists.

The Red Raiders had three players in double-digits, led by Kevin Obanor and De’Vion Harmon who each had 15.

QUOTABLES
Head coach Talvin Hester

“We did some really good things. The best thing we did was defend. We have to get better at taking care of the basketball, but I think that is a testament to how good Texas Tech is defensively. We will work on that, get better at that. I am really proud of how hard our guys played. We have to use this in order to get better from it.”

NOTABLES
With the loss, LA Tech now trails in the all-time series with Texas Tech, 2-8.
For a second straight game, the Bulldogs forced their opponent into 20+ turnovers.The Red Raiders committed 20 TOs for only the third time in the last three seasons.
LA Tech racked up nine steals.They now have 20 steals through the first two games.
Despite only playing six minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, Cobe Williams scored a game-high 16 points.It was his 33rd career double-digit scoring performance.
Kenny Hunter notched 10 points, the second most of his career.
Keaston Willis pulled down a team-high seven rebounds, his most ever as a Bulldog.
Jordan Crawford dished out a season-high six assists.He now has nine through two games.
UP NEXT
LA Tech heads to south Louisiana on Thursday, Nov. 17 to face off against rival UL-Lafayette for the 168th time. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. CT and will be streamed on ESPN+.

SOCIAL MEDIA
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