SIU continues their Florida trip with the first of 3 straight games in the Gulf Coast Showcase in Estero, FL.
Meet the Bulldogs:
The Bulldogs haven't been to an NCAA Tournament since 1991 despite having some good teams in recent memory. Saluki fans will remember the 2006 team with Paul Millsap that came into SIU Arena and pulled out a win. The 2014 team with current Georgia coach Mike White missed the NCAA's despite a 37th ranked KenPom finish, the best since KenPom has recorded data for (since 1997). The Bulldogs had some good teams under current Tulsa coach Eric Konkol too with Kenneth Lofton on their team.
Louisiana Tech's current head coach is Talvin Hester, in his 3rd year as head coach. They struggled in his first year going 15-18 (7-13) but took a big step last year finishing #94 in KenPom and going 22-10 (12-4). Hester was all over the map as an assistant coach, he spent time at places like Stephen F. Austin, Texas State, Houston, and Texas Tech. He was an assistant for Eric Konkol from 2018-2021 before coming back when Konkol left for Tulsa.
The Bulldogs were picked as the preseason favorites to win Conference USA ahead of Western Kentucky, Sam Houston State, Middle Tennessee, Liberty, among others.
So far this season, Louisiana Tech has played 2 D1 teams. They went to #190 UT Arlington and beat them 92-77 and they beat #142 Massachusetts on a neutral court on Long Island.
Louisiana Tech is 204th in the country in average height at 77.0". They're 267th in the country in D-1 Experience on their roster (1.27 years) and 227th in the country in minutes continuity from last year (27.9%).
The Bulldogs leading scorer and shot-blocker is 6-11 Senior Daniel Batcho averaging 22.8 points per game and 2 blocks per game. Batcho was a 4 star recruit from Paris, France and originally committed to Arizona but never played a game there after undergoing knee surgery. Batcho transferred to Texas Tech where he played in 56 games and started 16 of them. Last season for the Bulldogs, Batcho averaged 15.2 PPG and 9.8 RPG and was named to the CUSA All-First team. Coming into this season, Batcho was named the CUSA Preseason Player of the Year.
The leading rebounder for Louisiana Tech is 6-5 Sophomore Kaden Cooper averaging 7.5 rebounds per game. Cooper was a 4 star recruit out of Ada, Oklahoma and spent his Freshman year at Oklahoma where he played in 15 games.
The assist leader for the Bulldogs is 6-1 Junior Sean Newman Jr. averaging 11.2 assists per game. Newman Jr. spent his first two seasons at Fullerton College. He ended up with 146 total assists in his first year at Louisiana Tech which led Conference USA.
6-4 Junior Amaree Abram was a 4 star recruit out of Castaic, California and spent his Freshman season at Ole Miss where he played in 33 games, starting 22 of them. He then transferred to Georgia Tech where he played in 10 games and wasn't much of a factor. So far this season, Abram is averaging 17 points per game for the Bulldogs.
Links:
SIU Game Notes
Louisiana Tech Game Notes
