HOUSTON — Louisiana Tech did what no other team did this season. It was a victory inside Tudor Fieldhouse.
The Bulldogs needed another five minutes to do it, but they didn’t trail in overtime with a thrilling 88–82 overtime victory over Rice on Thursday night.
There were 11 total draws in the game, and the 11th draw came at the end of regulation as Travis Evie the Owl ejected a 3 from 45 feet away on the buzzer to make it 69-69. The desperate shot that tied the game wiped out a three-point shot that could have won the game. Quandre BlockOne-in from the wing with 2.9 seconds remaining.
LA Tech (9-6, 2-2 C-USA) did not falter. The Bulldog regrouped and didn’t drag on an extra frame.
Starting with extra time, there were many wonderful offensive plays. Cove Williams He scored five consecutive points on a paint jumper and put his team right foot down with a net-only triple for a 74-69 advantage.
After missing a lot of regulation due to foul trouble, Isaiah Crawford We started playing after playing. He banked on a floater and shot back-to-back assists. Keyston Willis Three-pointers and lightning two-handed dunks Kenny Hunter81-75 with 1:29 remaining.
However, Evee continued to impress in OT, closing the gap to one with his fifth 3-pointer with 40 seconds remaining. Crawford fought back with his old-fashioned three-pointer play and regained the 83–80 advantage.
Rice (11-4, 2-2) used free throws all night for an attacking presentation (going 22-30 from the foul line), but the Owls had a run in the final 21 seconds. I missed two important throws.
‘Dogs only won the charity stripe 15 times, Dravon Mangum Stepped up and made four big ones in the last seconds to secure the win on the road.
It was a frenetic 20 minutes in the first half as both teams attacked almost unstoppably. Williams driving his layup gave the Bulldogs a 41–40 lead at halftime.
LA Tech also trailed 45-54 and 9 at 14:54 to play in regulation after back-to-back 3s by Quincy Olivari. The Bulldogs held the Owls to just 15 points in his remaining 15 minutes before Brock hit a three-pointer that made him 69–66 before giving him the only lead in the stanza.
Williams, Willis and Hunter each scored 18 points. In the most important OT, the ‘Dogs were 6/8 from the field, 2/2 from deep, and 5/7 from the foul line. In the game, they shot 51.5% from the field.
Rice was pinned by Ivy, who scored a game-high 28 points.
Quotation
head coach Talvin Hester
“I thought the offensive side in extra time was the exception. [in overtime]Rice is aggressively a juggernaut. I thought our foul kept them in the game. I felt frustrated when the regulations ended. I wanted to foul on the catch. At the end of the day we fought, fought back and scored a nice road win. ”
“Isaiah [Crawford] It was big. Despite getting into foul trouble, he remained locked up and focused.in the second half he Isaiah Crawford we know He made incredible shots and passes. ”
“That was Kenny [Hunter] we know I think he has more than that. I hope he gets better. He just scratched the surface of the type of player he could be.”
— Featured photo courtesy of Louisiana Tech University