Bulldogs bounce back against FIU

Now that's a bounce back.

Louisiana Tech showed no signs of rust from last week's tough road trip to open league play in its CUSA home opener on Thursday, taking it to FIU (7-9, 1-2 CUSA) in an 81-64 win to improve to 12-4 overall and 1-2 in league action.

Tech led from end to end, delivering a punch of its own as it jumped ahead 18-3 before the Panthers could spell FIU. Tech was locked in on both ends from the word go, turning stifling defensive stops into quick buckets on the other end as Sean Newman did his usual crafty work by delivering 7 assists before FIU had two field goals. Tech exploded ahead thanks to a 25-4 run, with the Panthers held to a single field goal in the first eight minutes.

“It was really satisfying. At the end of the day, being home is different. It just is. We knew we would get a jolt from that, but we knew it wouldn’t be enough. We had to get back to playing the defense that we can play. I felt like that would be the spark for us,” Tech head coach Talvin Hester said. “If we can continue to get our energy from that end, good things will happen.”

Al Green nearly outscored FIU himself with five made threes in the first half and 18 points, nailing his first five attempts off smooth assists from Newman into the corner pocket in front of FIU's yelling bench. Kaden Cooper leaped for thunderous dunks off Newman's generous passes, going into halftime with 13 points and 5 rebounds.

Green, scoring a season-high 21 points in the win, expressed gratitude postgame for his unselfish point guard setting up for efficient shots.

“Coach always says he’s like a quarterback,” Green said of Newman. “Whatever decision he makes, I’m trusting it. If he thinks I’m open, he passes the ball, I’m going to shoot it. I feel like we’re working well right now.”

Newman continued to look for Green throughout the night, even after he missed back-to-back threes in the second half. Trust goes both ways for Newman’s play style and he wanted to make sure his teammate knew he had the green light the moment it left Newman’s hands.

“I trust him a lot, not only when he’s hitting but also when he’s missing. I tell him to keep shooting. I know the work he’s put in. He’s one of our key shooters,” Newman said.

Meanwhile, FIU had separate stretches without points of four and nearly six minutes in the half. By the break, LA Tech led 50-27 and had 15 assists on 21 field goals.

Over Tech's last three matchups with FIU, the Bulldogs have outscored the Panthers 152-79 in the first half.

Tech started shaky in the first five minutes of the second half, committing too many personal fouls - 2 field goals to 6 personal fouls to open the final frame - as FIU slashed and cut through the Tech defense for open looks to catch off guard and putting them in position to foul.

But Tech responded by moving the lead back to 20 with 12:00 left and eventually a 22-point lead with 8:30 left as Batcho put up 8 points and Amaree Abram chipped in 6 of his own to keep Tech in a comfortable position down the home stretch.

Newman stayed connected with his teammates as well, dishing out 3 assists in the second half - his fifth game of at least 10 assists and less than 3 turnovers.

“He had 10 in the first half, and I was like, ‘Uh oh. It’s going to be one of those days again,” Hester said of Newman’s night. “I think when you got guys like Al Green and Amaree Abram and Kaden Cooper and Devin Ree around him and then he has Daniel Batcho, old faithful, it becomes easy to get an assist if we just do the right thing.”

FIU made it interesting late as the Panthers went on a 13-4 run over a four-minute period, cutting the Tech lead to 77-62 with 3:45 left. But Tech locked FIU down in the closing minutes to squash any hopes of a stunning comeback, holding the Panthers scoreless over the final 3:14 while two Will Allen free throws and Cooper's alley-oop slam iced the win away.

Newman, who finished with 13 assists, 2 turnovers, and 4 steals, said the Bulldogs got back to who they were defensively, which allowed them to turn in a solid performance.

“We had a very rough start to conference. I’m not sure if we thought it would be easier coming in 11-2 and people are just going to lay down. It showed that they wouldn’t,” Newman said. “We had some tough days in practice, and it was needed to get us back on the right path. We just gotta go back to our foundation which is playing hard and getting it on the defensive end. Everything else will take care of itself.”

Kaden Cooper finished with 19 points and 8 rebounds while Daniel Batcho put up 16 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 blocks.

LA Tech (12-4, 1-2 CUSA) returns to action on Saturday to host Liberty (13-2, 1-1 CUSA) at 7 p.m.