Louisiana Tech cruises past Jackson State, 85-58

RUSTON – Louisiana Tech ran its home winning streak to 11 on Tuesday night as the Bulldogs cruised to an 85-58 victory over Jackson State inside the Thomas Assembly Center on Karl Malone Court.

LA Tech (5-2) got contributions from everywhere as eight players scored at least seven points. Kalob Ledoux paced the team yet again in scoring with a smooth 17 points. His scoring teammate tonight was Jace Bass who provided an offensive spark off the bench with a career-high 16.

The ‘Dogs got after it on defense as well, forcing a season-high 24 turnovers by JSU (0-3), the most by a Division I opponent since 2016. It also marked the fourth straight game with forcing at least 15 TOs.

“We’ve talked about really being active on defense and having teams feel our presence and I thought we did that tonight,” said head coach Eric Konkol. “On the offensive end, we wanted to see more sharing and see more paint touches. We had some good plays today in that regard.”

The game was tight midway through the first period as LA Tech held just a 19-17 advantage over the Tigers. However, Bass helped ignite a 14-0 run by the Bulldogs, scoring 10 straight points including back-to-back three-pointers, a highlight-reel dunk and a pair of free throws.

“I’m really happy for Jace,” said Konkol. “He has been learning the system. He has earned more playing time by the way he is practicing and picking things up. You can tell he is getting more and more confident the way he is attacking the basket and shooting the ball.”

The Tigers ended up turning it over 16 times in the first half alone. Meanwhile, nine different Bulldogs provided points in the period to help increase the team’s lead to 47-27 at intermission.

Coach Konkol wanted to see the squad increase that lead in the second half. And that they did, building as much as a 33-point lead after Ledoux’s fast break three-pointer and converted three-point play with 5:23 to go.

Ledoux and Bass were the lone Bulldogs to score in double-figures, but there were quality minutes to be found throughout the lineup. Andrew Gordon came off the bench to record nine points and a season-high nine rebounds. Isaiah Crawford and JaColby Pemberton each posted nine points as well.

Exavian Christon added seven points and two steals. Cobe Williams dished out five assists and Kenneth Lofton, Jr. had eight points and a career-high three steals.

“I was really happy with Andrew Gordon,” said Konkol. “He is a guy that we are asking for great energy off the bench. And Exavian Christon played some really solid minutes, picking up steals and providing some great post feeds. He did things that don’t necessarily hit the stat sheets. It was a total team effort for our guys. Everybody contributed in some way.”

LA Tech ended up shooting 46.8 percent from the field (29-62), 36.4 percent from downtown (8-22) and 76.0 percent from the charity stripe (19-25).

Jackson State shot 40.0 percent for the game and had three players score double-digit points, led by Jayveous McKinnis who had a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds.

LA Tech will play its final non-conference home game on Saturday, Dec. 19 versus Lamar. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. in the TAC.

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