Boot up, Baws! We're back! After a 10-0 start, LSU faces another very sneaky opponent that the average LSU and college basketball fan won't think twice about. The Bulldogs of LA Tech are 8-2 with a KenPom ranking of 81 and a NET ranking of 86, which makes this a Quad 2 game.

The Bulldogs got blown out vs Bama to start the season, lost by single digits to NC State. They sometimes seem to be streaky and can go in cold spells, but they have some good talent on the roster.

Louisiana Tech
Players

F FR Kenneth Lofton Jr 6'7 275 (not sure about that weight...)- He's not really a Freshman but because of Covid he's still listed as a Frosh. Most LSU fans remember him. He burst onto the scene last season against LSU and then continued to impress all season. He also was a standout with Adam Miller during Team USA's U19 gold medal team. Lofton averages 19ppg 11rpg. Not a great shooter, but has elite instincts, fantastic footwork, and incredible touch. He sat out LT's last game against LSU-S to rest.

G SR Amorie Archibald 6'3 185 - 5th year Senior who has averaged double digits for 4 years now. Archibald is a good 3-point shooter at 36% while averaging 13.6ppg, 2.6apg. He's a good veteran player. In games LT has struggled he has struggled. He's a key to shutting down LT.

G Soph Keaston Willis 6'3 180 - 3rd year Soph, transfer from Incarnate Word. At Incarnate, he averaged 13ppg than 19ppg. Currently, he's averaging 10.6ppg and he's a big time 3-point threat. He averages 6 3-point attempts per game and shoots 38.7%.

F FR David Green 6'7 215 - 2nd year Freshman transfer from Hofstra. Comes off the bench for LT but averages 8ppg and 3rpg. Over half his shots come from the outside and shoots at 38%

G Soph Cobe Williams 6'0 180 - Another 3rd year Soph for the Bulldogs. The PG for LT. Averages 7.2ppg, 3.3rpg, 4.4apg. His shooting percentage is down from last season so his scoring is, too. He's never been great from the outside but this season he's shooting only 18% from 3.

G SR Exavion Christon 6'4 200 - 5th year Senior. Started every game for LT. Averages 24mpg but only 3.6ppg, not really a standout at much. Has played lots of

G FR Kaleb Stewart 6'3 180 - Actually a true Freshman, Stewart comes off the bench and averages 6.3ppg. Decent shooter at 38% in a small sample size, but offers little else. Has played lots of games for LT, averages under 38% for his career from the floor and around 31% from 3.

F FR Kenny Hunter 6'10 235 - 5.1ppg, 3.2apg. Usually spells Lofton, big body down low.

G FR LaDamien Bradford 6'5 215 - Transfer from TAMU. Good athlete, averages 4ppg.

Stats
Offensive (rank nationally)

PPG: 79.6 (29th)
FG%: 46.9 % (54th)
3p%: 32.6% (206th)
FT%: 76.1% (51st)
2p%: 56.1% (24th)
APG: 14.4 (89th)
TOPG: 11.9 (82nd)
ORPG: 8.9 (141st)
Offensive Efficiency: 1.087 (36th)

Defensive

PPG: 74.1 (261st)
FG%: 44.7% (234th)
3P%: 31.3% (106th)
2P%: 52.8% (277th)
DRPG: 22.8 (225th)
SPG: 6.9 (154th)
BPG: 2.1 (298th)
Opp OR Per Game: 9.1 (232nd)
Defensive Efficiency: 1.012 (237th)

Breakdown

LA Tech is going to be yet another stiff test for our defense. La Tech is not very big and they really really struggled for 90% of their game vs ULL before pulling away late. They are very poor on defense and really rely on their offense to win games (sound familiar).

They are excellent at getting to the rack, letting Lofton do work, and can hit their FT's. Defensively, they defend the 3 at a decent rate, otherwise it's pretty bad all around.

Prediction

At this point, I have to think our D is legit. We have not allowed a single team over 63, we've only allowed 2 teams to get to the 60's. I just am not very worried about LT's scoring, more concerned with ours. Prior to our exam layoff we were struggling. We struggled mightily vs Ga Tech for 15 minutes before scoring 59 points in the final 26 minutes. Followed up by a thumping of NWST. I'm hopeful that was a turning point.

Lofton ate us up last year, but this year's team is twice as long, twice as athletic, and way way more tough. I can't see that happening again. This is LT's Super Bowl so they will come out as hard and tough as they possibly can. If they don't jump out to an early lead, the game won't be very close. I think the game will be close for 10-15 minutes before LSU starts to pull away.

LSU 79
LT 62

This post was edited on 12/18/21 at 11:22 am