Louisiana Tech tops San Jose State

Here is game report of the Tech win over the Spartans, followed by our summary:

The News Star
February 5, 2010

RUSTON – Louisiana Tech used a 15-0 start to beat San Jose State 71-64 Thursday at the Thomas Assembly Center.

The Bulldogs improved to 19-4 overall and 7-2 in the Western Athletic Conference and are tied in first place. The Spartans fell to 12-9 overall and 5-3 in the WAC.

“We got off to a great start and brought great defensive focus and great defensive energy,” head coach Kerry Rupp said. “That set the tone for the entire game and we just tried to sustain that for 40 minutes. On offense, we tried to make sure that we got a quality possession every time down the court...”

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The San Jose State basketball squad has never listened to Hank Williams Sr., at least not Williams' "Jumbalaya" song. The one with the line "...son of a gun, we’ll have big fun on the bayou..."

That's apparent because after falling behind 15-0 to open the game, the Spartans made it a game -- getting within three points -- but Tech wouldn't relinquish the lead and the Bulldogs won 71-64.

Adrian Oliver led the Spartans with 20 points (8-17, 6-6 from the charity stripe), with Justin Graham contributing 15. Magnum Rolle topped Tech with 21 points (8-14 from the floor, 5-5 at the foul line) and Kyle Gibson wasn't far behind with 18.

SJSU cut LT's lead to 50-47 with a 10-0 run around the nine-minute mark of the second half. But the Bulldogs stood fast as Jamel Guyton buried a trey and then one of two free throws and Gibson added a deuce to make it 56-47 with 7:10 remaining.

Later on, a Graham steal and layup made it 60-54 but again Louisiana Tech maintained.

Graham also made a pair of free throws to reduce the difference to four at 62-58 but that's the closest San Jose State could pull within late in the game.

After 20 minutes, it was 34-26 in favor of the Bulldogs.

One first half play must be noted: on Louisiana Tech's last possession, forward David Jackson was between the half court line and the top of the circle when he turned and threw the ball towards the basket with one second on the shot clock. It went in, adding three points to the Tech lead.

Actually, make that two instances because Guyton was credited with three points on a banked trey in the initial 20 minutes -- call it a home bounce or roll, not to be confused with a Magnum one.

For the Spartans, at least the jambalaya, crawfish pie and filé gumbo must have tasted good.

As for final team numbers, San Jose State out-rebounded LT 32-30. SJSU shot 42% overall, made 11-12 free throws and went 3-14 from long distance. LT shot 46%, connected on 14-19 free throws and 3-12 from three-point range. The Spartans had 16 turnovers to 14 for the Bulldogs.