RUSTON, La. -- The Louisiana Tech men's basketball team will travel to Nacogdoches, Texas, tonight to battle Stephen F. Austin at 6:30 p.m. inside the William R. Johnson Coliseum.
The game will be streamed live on the ESPN+ subscription streaming service and the Louisiana Tech X mobile application. Twitter users can follow @LATechHoops for live in-game updates.
Hot Springs sophomore Exavian Christon is not expected to play. Christon has missed the last two games with an undisclosed injury.
Louisiana Tech (6-3) swepts its past two home games, including an 82-68 victory on Tuesday against Prairie View A&M (1-8), of the Southwestern Athletic Conference. The game was held on the 36-year anniversary of the first game Karl Malone and the Bulldogs ever played in the Thomas Assembly Center.
Leading the charge was the backcourt duo of junior DaQuan Bracey and senior Derric Jean, who both registered season highs in scoring with 22 and 17 points, respectively. They combined to hit eight 3-pointers in the contest.
Despite the Panthers' high shooting percentages, the Bulldogs played one of its best defensive games of the season. They were able to force a season-high 20 turnovers, while also recording seven blocks and six steals.
Bracey was 9-for-15 from the field. After making just one 3-pointer in his first 12 attempts from deep this season, he connected on three triples against Prairie View, helping to up his scoring average to 10.1 points per game.
He is now one of five Bulldogs averaging double figures in scoring. Jean is not far behind with an average of 8.3 points per game. After averaging 4.8 points per game through the first five games, he is averaging 14 points over the last two games.
Lousiana Tech has outscored opponents by 58 points in the paint and the Bulldogs rank second in Conference USA with a plus-7.2 rebounding margin. They have the most total offensive boards in the conference with 115.
Stephen F. Austin (5-2) was picked as the favorite the win the Southland Conference title. The Lumberjacks won the conference tournament last season to make the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in the last five season.
Tonight's game will be their first game back in the states after splitting two games in the Belfast Classic in Ireland. They lost, 76-58, to San Francisco (8-1), but bounced back to defeat Milwaukee (2-6), 66-51.
Shannon Bogues and Kevon Harris lead Stephen F. Austin with 14.3 and 12.3 points per game, respectively. They have combined to score 40 percent of the team's points after earning All-SLC Second-Team honors a season ago.
The Lumberjacks are 91-4 at home since the 2012-13 to boast th ebest home winning percentage in the country during that span. Only two of the four losses came during non-conference play.
Tonight's game is the back half of a home-and-home series between the two schools. Stephen F. Austin won, 85-83, in Ruston last season on a game-winning bucket with five seconds left to end the Bulldogs' 11-game home winning streak. The Lumberjacks lead the all-time series, 7-6.
Sports on 12/07/2018