RUSTON – Daniel Batcho and Kaden Cooper each tallied double-doubles as Louisiana Tech took down league leader Middle Tennessee, 75-69, on Saturday night inside the Thomas Assembly Center on Karl Malone Court.
LA Tech (15-6, 4-4 CUSA) found itself down four with 4:51 to play, but the Bulldogs finished the game on a 16-6 run to protect the TAC and claim their seventh straight home victory.
Long before making the comeback, the 'Dogs had an early rhythm offensively. Sean Newman Jr. connected with Cooper on an alley-oop dunk. Devin Ree buried a three-pointer. And Newman Jr. tacked on a 15-foot jumper and a pair of free throws to give LA Tech a 9-2 lead.
That lead evaporated real quick.
Middle Tennessee (14-6, 5-2 CUSA) countered with a whopping 15-0 run to stun the crowd, taking a 7-point deficit and turning it into an 8-point advantage. The cause was five forced turnovers and seven straight missed shots by LA Tech.
Finally, a Sean Elkinton offensive rebound and putback stopped the bleeding. Then helping slice into the deficit was Batcho who did not score a single point until the 7:43 mark when he made one of two free throw attempts.
The power forward started to settle in after that, scoring six straight points to tie things up at 23-23. However, Camryn Weston would sink a jumper in the paint and connect on a three-pointer to help give MTSU a 3-point edge at halftime.
The second half was back-and-forth for most of it, staying within four points each way. LA Tech was down four with just under five minutes to go. And then Batcho took over.
The nation's leader in field goal percentage sparked a 10-0 run for the 'Dogs, scoring eight of them including a massive alley-oop slam to help give the home squad a 69-63 advantage with 1:46 remaining.
Then there was Cooper who kept LA Tech in it with a made jumper and one of his three triples coupled with two made free throws that helped during the run.
The biggest shot of the game though came courtesy of Newman Jr. who got his defender up in the air late in the shock clock, sinking the 10-foot jumper plus the foul making it a 72-65 lead.
LA Tech simply owned the second half, shooting 63.6 percent (14-of-22) during the stanza to help seal the come-from-behind victory. Batcho finished with 25 points and a season-tying 12 boards while Cooper had 16 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. Newman Jr. tacked on 13 points and eight assists.
MTSU was led by Weston who had 16. Jestin Porter and Jlynn Counter each added 15 and 13 points, respectively.
QUOTABLES
Head coach Talvin Hester On the win …"I knew we would bring fight at home. At home, we have been pretty good with our energy and preparation. It was just a matter of were we going to finish the game. I was trying to make a mental note of not to panic when Middle Tennessee made that early run because they are a really good team. The message I had before the game was do what we do and do what we practice. I did not think we did that through the first 11 minutes or so. We jumped out, scored a little bit, but then we started doing things that were uncharacteristic. I knew if we could get the game close at halftime we would be fine. I grabbed [Daniel] Batcho in the hallway and told him to do what he does best. When we all settled down and it was a fight back and forth, it was a matter of how we can win from a coaching standpoint."
On the final minutes …"We got stops. Not only stops, but we had Kaden Cooper and Daniel Batcho flying over the rim getting rebounds to secure their misses. When we hold people to one shot, now it gives ourselves a chance. And in the second half, we were the free throw team I know we can be."
On Kaden Cooper's performance …"Young players get their confidence on offense. Today, he got his confidence from playing hard on defense. Next thing you know the ball goes in and he is playing extremely hard. That is a growth thing he is going to go through. You saw the type of player he can be once he settles down and lets the game come to him."
On the home court advantage …"One, there is no travel on your body. Two, your fans are here cheering you on when times are tough. That is a human thing. When you have people encouraging you, you give a little more. On the road you don't have that. Beautiful thing is we get another home game. We have been on the road so much. I am ready for this crowd to come back and cheer us on one more time before we hit the road again."
Guard Kaden Cooper On the late scoring run …"I felt like we just locked in, remembered our game plan. We stopped the players we needed to stop and stayed on the same page. The defensive stops really helped us."
On the home court advantage …"It is really just do or die. We knew Middle Tennessee was coming in as the No. 1 team in our conference. It was a big win for us."
Forward Daniel Batcho On what this win does moving forward …"We have to keep growing, take it one game at a time. We just now need to focus on the next game which is Sam Houston."
On Sean Newman Jr.'s and-one late …"Earlier this season against Grand Canyon he did the same thing. A couple of weeks ago too against Liberty. Every time we need him, he steps up.
NOTABLES
- With the win, LA Tech now leads the all-time series versus Middle Tennessee, 16-8. The Bulldogs improved to 11-2 versus the Blue Raiders in Ruston.
- LA Tech secured its seventh straight home victory and improved to 9-1 at home this season.
- This marked the 130th Conference USA win for the Bulldogs.
- LA Tech improved to 12-1 this season when holding its opponent to under 70 points. The Bulldogs are 31-2 over the last two seasons when holdings their opponent to under 70 points.
- LA Tech shot 78.6 percent from the foul line, marking the 15th time this season the Bulldogs have shot at least 70 percent from the charity stripe. The Bulldogs made 22 free throws, marking the sixth time this season they have made 20+ in a game (third time in the last five games).
- LA Tech scored 48 second-half points, marking the 12th time this season the Bulldogs have scored 40+ points in the second stanza.
- The Bulldogs outrebounded the Blue Raiders, 43-26. It is the eighth time this season LA Tech has outrebounded its opponent by double figures.
- LA Tech won its seventh game this season when trailing at halftime (are 7-4).
- Daniel Batchor ecorded his fourth double-double of the season (15th of his Bulldog career). He also led the Bulldogs in scoring for the 10th time this season (fourth straight game) with 25 points (eighth 20-point scoring performance). He tied his season high with 12 rebounds.
- Kaden Cooper tallied his third double-double of the season with 16 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. He has anchored the Bulldogs in rebounding 13 times this season.
- Sean Newman Jr. nearly had a double-double with 13 points and eight assists. It was his 12th double-digit scoring game and the 14th time with at least eight dimes.
- Sean Newman Jr. now has 190 assists on the season, the eighth most in program history.
- Sean Newman Jr. went a perfect 9-for-9 from the foul line. He has now made 27 consecutive free throws.
UP NEXT
LA Tech will wrap up its three-game home stand on Saturday, Feb. 1 against Sam Houston. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. CT in the TAC and will be nationally televised on ESPNU.
