Bulldogs look to respond in home slate

Louisiana Tech (11-4, 0-2 CUSA) didn’t expect its first Conference USA home slate of the season to carry such importance, but after a rough opening week of league play on the road, the Bulldogs return to the TAC hoping to show some life and get back on track.

It’s still early in the schedule with enough time to make up ground but Talvin Hester knows his team got a major wakeup call, maybe a wakeup punch (or punches) in two double-digit losses at UTEP and New Mexico State last week, including a 30-point loss to the Aggies.

The Bulldogs shot 35.5% over the two losses and failed to answer when both home teams went on sizeable runs. Hester tried to warn his group, especially his newcomers, to what a road trip in league play would entail. If they didn’t know beforehand how tough winning in CUSA, let alone on the road, would be, he hopes a return home sparks a fire in a Bulldog team that he felt lacked enough fighting spirit last week.

“We left playing at a high level of effort and energy before we left for the break and we didn’t tap back into that when we got back,” Hester said.

The Bulldogs turned the ball over 32 times over the road trip to just 37 made field goals, while shooting just 25% from three over the stretch – securing the program’s first 0-2 start to CUSA play since the 2017-18 season.

Home teams in CUSA are now a combined 62-8 this season.

“I hope it was a wakeup call because when you go into conference and you think people are going to lay down because Louisiana Tech walks in, they got something different,” Hester said. “We knew it would be a tough road trip. We’re trying to get our new guys that don’t understand how tough the road is in Conference USA to understand that. It’s like explaining what the ocean is to somebody that’s never seen water. They think, ‘Oh, we’ll come in and we’re 11-2 and we beat some good teams and we’ll be OK.’ I think we got popped in the mouth really good. And now, they have a realization of how hard this league really is.”

If the Bulldogs are going to get the response they’re hoping for this week, they’ll need their big-man Daniel Batcho to return to form after a rough stretch. Against New Mexico State, Batcho attempted just two field goals and played less than 20 minutes – finishing the first week of league play with 14 total points. Overall, he’s averaging only 6.6 rebounds per game, well below his 9.8 rebounding average last season.

Given last week’s struggles and the fact Batcho only has two double-digit rebounding performances this season, Hester was asked what needs to change for the CUSA Preseason Player of the Year and how he can get back to being the dominant force opponents worry about.

“I can’t say I know what was wrong with him. There was obviously something wrong with Daniel because his life, his energy wasn’t there,” Hester said. “My first thing was to check on him as a person to make sure he was OK and make sure everything was OK with him. But we just gotta get Daniel back to playing like Daniel. I know the field goals were a concern but there was no ball-screen defense from Daniel, there was no contesting shots at the rim from Daniel. I don’t have the answer to what was wrong. Daniel will have to find that within himself. But I’m sure we’ll get him back to being the Daniel that we know who he is.”

Since Batcho arrived in Ruston, the Bulldogs are 13-5 in games where he puts up at least 16 points and 8 rebounds.

LA Tech will begin its homestand against the FIU Panthers (7-8, 1-1 CUSA) on Thursday, a team going through its own share of ups and downs as 2025 gets underway.

Hester knows the start to league play is surprising, if not plain upsetting, to fans who thought the Bulldogs would be able to ride the success of non-conference play right into CUSA action. But the last thing he wants Bulldogs supporters to do is to check out.

After experiencing first-hand the power of a rowdy home crowd at UTEP and NMS, Hester ended his press conference Tuesday with a message to Tech fans to continue showing up.

“If those fans have ever been to UTEP and New Mexico State, they’ll understand how important it is. Those teams had great support, great fan support. It was loud. You could feel the energy of them trying to support their team to beat Louisiana Tech,” Hester said. “I think if our fans could rally behind us and make our home court advantage a home court advantage, I think it’s big. It showed against Grand Canyon. It’s shown in year’s past. We look forward to them coming out.”

LA Tech (11-4, 0-2 CUSA) hosts FIU (7-8, 1-1 CUSA) Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at the Thomas Assembly Center.