Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Louisiana Tech
Men's Basketball Pounds Louisiana Tech 61-40
1/10/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan 10, 2004
FRESNO, Calif. - Starting guards Shantay Legans and Terry Pettis scored 13 points apiece as Fresno State routed Louisiana Tech 61-40 on Saturday night for its sixth consecutive victory.
Fresno State (8-5, 4-0) remained in sole possession of first place in the Western Athletic Conference. Louisiana Tech (7-7, 1-3) dropped its third straight.
Wayne Powell led Louisiana Tech with 16 points on 8-of-12 shooting. Paul Millsap, who entered the game averaging a team-high 15.6 points per game for Louisiana Tech, was held to two points. The nation's leading rebounder, Millsap also had only eight rebounds and was hampered by foul trouble.
Fresno State collected a season-high 20 assists, including nine by Legans. who leads the WAC in that category. The Bulldogs also outrebounded Tech, which entered seventh in the country in rebounding margin, 37-32.
"To outrebound one of the top rebounding teams in the nation is very special," said head coach Ray Lopes. "To play as well defensively as we did, that is also special. We put together a very good effort tonight. Now we've got to get ready for a tough road trip coming up."
Fresno State built on a 31-29 halftime lead, as Louisiana Tech scored only 11 points in the second half and just two points in the final 5:19.
After Louisiana Tech tied the score 35-35 on a Powell jumper with 16:36 remaining, Fresno State put the game away with a 17-0 scoring run. Seven Bulldogs scored during the surge. La Tech went 11 minutes 15 seconds without a basket during the run.
Mustafa Al-Sayyad added eight points and eight rebounds for Fresno State. Facing the WAC's top-ranked defense, Louisiana Tech shot 34 percent from the field and put up its lowest point total of the season.
Fresno State next hits the road for the Boise State/UTEP road trip. The Bulldogs open the two-game swing against BSU on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
