Talvin Hester's squad bounced back with a pair of wins over FIU and Liberty to improved to 13-4 overall and 2-2 in league play.

On the women's side, the Lady Techsters were swept at FIU and Liberty to fall to 9-6 overall and 2-2 in league play.

Three Things We Learned

1 — Home Court Advantage

Louisiana Tech is a combined 4-0 at home when you count the men and the women in Conference USA play.

Playing at home is a decided advantage in college hoops, maybe a more decided advantage than any other sport.

Holding serve at home and earning splits on the road will have you right in the mix for a regular season title come early March.

Tech's men earned a 16-point home win against FIU on Thursday night before defeating Liberty by 5 on Saturday night to complete the home sweep this weekend.

2 — Newman and Batcho BALL OUT

It's unfair to say that the Tech men were in must-win-mode against FIU and Liberty this weekend, but the Bulldogs had to get back to playing quality basketball.

Sean Newman Jr. and Daniel Batcho would need to step up if that were going to be the case, and the dynamic duo certainly did so for Talvin Hester's team.

Newman Jr. scored a career-high 27 points in Tech's win over Liberty Saturday night and averaged 16.5 points and 10.5 assists for the week.

Batcho recorded his third double-double of the season with 24 points, 12 rebounds, and 3 blocks against Liberty and finished the week with an averaging of 20 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks per game.

All-conference dudes playing at an all-conference level.

3 — Lady Techsters Road Woes Continue

Brooke Stoehr's team dropped 72-61 and 75-64 decisions to FIU and Liberty this weekend.

The Lady Techsters have now lost their last five on the road after defeating South Alabama in the first road game of the season back on November 7th.

For a young team, that's probably not a huge surprise but something that will need to improve over the next two months.

The Techsters shot only 38% from the field and committed 19.5 turnovers per game in the two defeats.

Two Questions Going Forward

1 — Can Paris Bradley keep up this level of play?

The freshmen from Carrollton, TX continued her high level of play on the road this weekend when she averaged 18.5 points per game on 57% shooting from the field and 55% shooting from 3-point range.

Bradley has scored in double-figures in 7 of her last 9 games and has emerged as Tech's #2 scoring option behind Robyn Lee.

2 — Can the Dunkin' Dogs get solid production on the road from role players?

Anytime you're at home, role players and younger players are going to play at a higher level due to the enhanced level of comfort.

Can those same guys perform at a high level on the road?

It's no secret at this point that Tech has gotten solid/high level production from Daniel Batcho, Sean Newman Jr., Amaree Abram, and Kaden Cooper throughout the season.

Having a Devin Ree, Al Green, Jordan Crawford, AJ Bates, Sean Elkinton, Landren Blocker, or Will Allen stepping up away from home is essential to playing in winning basketball.

In Tech's road trip to UTEP and New Mexico State, that group of players shot only 29% from the field offensively.

One Prediction for Next Week

The Dunkin' Dogs and Lady Techsters combine to go 4-0 this week against Jacksonville State and Kennesaw State.

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