One tough stretch costs Bulldogs in season opener at Colorado State

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – One tough stretch in the second half proved too costly for Louisiana Tech as the Bulldogs dropped their season opener to Colorado State, 81-73, on a late Monday night in front of a rowdy 4,331 fans inside Moby Arena.

For the first 28 minutes of the ball game, LA Tech (0-1) was in control having led for much of the contest leading up to Jaylin Henderson’s fastbreak layup that gave the ‘Dogs a 10-point advantage with 12:37 to go.

However, the Bulldogs, who had made 23 of their 42 field goals up to this point, had an 8-minute stretch that completely flipped the game. Twelve straight misses on offense played a key role in CSU (1-0) going on a 23-2 run. Suddenly, LA Tech went from being up 10 to being down 11 with 4:29 to play.

The closest the Bulldogs could get beyond that was six as 12 of the Rams final 20 points came from the free throw line. It was a place where CSU lived all night, going 23-of-26 from the charity stripe thanks to 23 personal fouls called on LA Tech. Five of those went to Conference USA Preseason Player of the Year Isaiah Crawford who only saw 12 minutes of action before fouling out for just the fifth time ever.

Despite Crawford’s two early fouls in the first half, the Bulldogs stood firm only trailing for one minute of the 20-minute period while taking a 34-33 slim advantage into the locker room.

Crawford picked up two more fouls in the first 85 seconds of the second half. Even so, LA Tech had its best stretch of basketball right after that, going on a 15-4 run that included three big three-pointers (two from Tahlik Chavez and one buried from the corner by Devin Ree).

A made jumper by Jordan Crawford off a forced turnover gave the ‘Dogs their largest lead of the game at 53-42 with 14:08 remaining. But the scoring drought came soon thereafter.

LA Tech wound up shooting 44.6 percent from the field (29-65) as well as 80.0 percent from the foul line (8-10). Playing without two key forwards in Daniel Batcho and Terri Miller Jr., the Bulldogs still owned the glass to the tune of a +16 rebounding margin and a 13-0 second-chance scoring edge.

Three Bulldogs, all newcomers, reached double-digit points – Henderson (16), Sean Newman Jr., (15), and Chavez (11). Newman Jr. also added five assists and three steals while playing a team-high 32 minutes in his LA Tech debut.

After being held to just 38.5 percent shooting in the first half, CSU erupted for 64.0 percent shooting in the second half. Four Rams tallied double-digit points, led by Joel Scott with a game-high 18.

QUOTABLES
Head coach Talvin Hester

Overall thoughts on the game …
“I thought we came out and fought. I thought for about 32 minutes of this game, we played together and played inspired. For about four or five minutes, we separated. I have got to get the team to play 40 minutes. Road games are tough. Of course, we would have loved to of had Isaiah Crawford more.”

On the defensive struggles in the second half …
“I thought we were sucking wind a little bit. Our legs stopped moving. We held them to 38.5 percent in the first half, but we did not do that in the second half. Our intensity has to be matched.”

On Sean Newman Jr. …
“He is really good. He is really steady. Hopefully we can him to the point where he does not have to play 32 minutes and he can play fresh a little more. I told everyone when we recruited him that he was going to be a fan favorite at Louisiana Tech.”

On the team’s rebounding …
“That was an emphasis coming in. We struggled with rebounding last season. In the first half, we did an unbelievable job of stopping them from getting rebounds. We need to maintain getting stops and getting those rebounds.”

On the game plan this week …
“I want to see our mental toughness grow. I am really excited about the team we have. I think we need to get better in the interior and we need to be better off ball-screen coverages. We will challenge them and make practice harder than the games.”

NOTABLES
With the loss, LA Tech and Colorado State are now tied all-time, 1-1.
Tahlik Chavez knocked down three triples, marking the 53rd time in his collegiate career he has made at least three three-pointers in a single game.
Will Allen played a career-high 26 minutes while pulling down eight rebounds, which is the second most ever in his career.
Dravon Mangum registered a game-high 10 rebounds, marking the second time in his Bulldog career of reaching double-digit boards.

Isaiah Crawford played only 12 minutes, matching the fewest minutes he has ever played in a single game as a Bulldog (not counting the game he suffered his second season-ending injury).

UP NEXT
LA Tech will be back in action in a week, taking on Lyon College on Monday, Nov. 13 inside the Thomas Assembly Center on Karl Malone Court. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. CT and will be streamed live on ESPN+.

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