Louisiana Tech (19-12, 9-9) will start its journey towards a Conference USA Championship Wednesday night against FAU (17-14, 8-10) at The Star in Frisco, TX.

Tipoff is set for 6 p.m., and the game can be streamed on ESPN+. Dave Nitz will have the radio call on KXKZ 107.5 FM.

The two teams have already squared off twice this season, both in Boca Raton, with each team winning once. FAU won a 69-61 decision on January 31st, while the Bulldogs beat the Owls in their most recent game March 6th by a score of 72-69.

Looking at the Bulldogs, Eric Konkol's squad is expected to start Bracey, Archibald, Pemberton, Duruji, and Powell for the 22nd consecutive game. Ra'Shawn Langston and Mo Muhammed will remain the key cogs off the bench.

In the two previous match-ups against the Owls, DaQuan Bracey and Amorie Archibald have carried the load offensively. Bracey has averaged 17.5 points per game on 47% shooting, while Archibald has averaged 17 points per game on 48% shooting.

Getting contributions from Langston and Muhammed off the bench will be big for Tech. The duo has only averaged nine points per game combined on 31% shooting in the first two contests.

Looking at the Owls, Anthony Adger has been great throughout the season, and that's including two games against the Bulldogs when he's averaged 15.5 points per game.

Limiting the effectiveness of Karlis Silins will also be a major part of Tech's game plan. The 6'11 freshman has given Tech fits in both games averaging 16.5 points and eight rebounds in only 23 minutes of action per game.

Keys to Victory

If Tech is going to live to fight another day, the Bulldogs must limit the Owls on the glass. In the first two games, FAU out-rebounded Tech by 18 total rebounds. The 27 offensive rebounds given up by Tech have made things extremely difficult.

Tech must be efficient at the free throw line. In their last time out against FAU, Tech was 16/20 (80%) at the line. That is a great recipe for success, and one that needs to be reciprocated Wednesday night.

With only eight players in the Tech rotation, the Bulldogs must stay out of foul trouble early. With the thin bench, any sort of foul trouble will change of the rotation and could cause some issues from a personnel standpoint.

Subscribe to BleedTechBlue for $1 and get exclusive access to the best recruiting network in the industry, inside scoops on recruiting and team news found nowhere else and much more. Use the promo code LTDollar. Offer expires soon!

Join the discussion at the Tech Drive, the Louisiana Tech Rivals premium message board for hundreds of Louisiana Tech fans.