On a day Louisiana Tech men’s basketball retired the jersey number of Bulldogs legend Paul Millsap, La Tech ended Sam Houston’s seven-game winning streak by beating the Bearkats 87-78. The Bulldogs dominated the boards outrebounded Sam Houston 46-30. Kaden Cooper, playing in his first game since January 14th, had 16 points and a career-high 18 rebounds. Coach Talvin Hester on Cooper’s big game.
“Kaden had an unbelievable week of practice. And in that week, I told him, ‘I hope you’re ready to play. But it has to be the way you practice,’ and this is the result. And I told him, ‘For us to be who we want to be as a team, you have to be a part of that. But you got to choose that.’ And he chose it,” Hester said.
The win gives Tech a 6-6 record in Conference USA. The Bulldogs are on the road this week as they visit Missouri State on Thursday night and FIU on Saturday. Sir Issac Herron had a career-high 18 points in the win over Sam Houston and says the toughness they played with against the Bearkats, they need to bring on the road.
“You have to carry toughness on the road, and mature teams do that. If you look at the Libertys and the good teams in our league, and they carry toughness on the road, you know, but it has to be consistent. You are who you are every day, you have to show that. So if we bring that toughness on the road with us, the rest will take care of itself,” Herron said.