By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports
Five of the six area Division I college basketball teams are home at least once in the coming days.
The women’s teams at Grambling and Northwestern State play home games tonight, when it will be good to be indoors during a rainy evening.
Louisiana Tech’s men are home Saturday, and four miles away Grambling hosts an attractive SWAC doubleheader against Jackson State.
The NSU and Grambling men are on their homecourts Monday night. Only the Lady Techsters are not home in the next several days and they have a great chance to pick up their first Conference USA road win Saturday.
MEN
Louisiana Tech (15-6, 4-4 CUSA)
Next: home Saturday at 3 vs. Sam Houston State (8-13, 1-7)
Last game: won 75-69 last Saturday at home over Middle Tennessee State
Notes: No surprise as to the top two ‘Dogs in Conference USA contests: center Daniel Batcho, the preseason CUSA Player of the Year, is averaging 17.4 points, 7.3 rebounds and shooting 70.6 percent from the field, while point guard Sean Newman Jr. produces 10.4 points himself and issues 7.8 assists per game in league action … a pair of two-point losses settled in the closing seconds at Jacksonville State and Kennesaw State have the Bulldogs mired in the middle of the conference standings despite their overall record.
Northwestern (9-11, 6-4 Southland)
Next: at East Texas A&M (2-19, 0-10) Saturday, 2:15; Monday, 6:30, home vs. UT-Rio Grande Valley (12-9, 4-6)
Last game: lost 69-59 Monday at Lamar
Notes: in Southland Conference games, junior forward Addison Patterson leads the Demons with a 13.5 scoring average and is at 6.4 rebounds per game … junior point guard Micah Thomas averages 12.8 points and has hit 89.5 (34-38) of his free throws in league play … at the halfway point in the SLC race, Northwestern has a pair of two-point wins and a one-point loss.
Grambling (6-14, 3-4 SWAC)
Next: home Saturday, 4:30, vs. Jackson State (5-15, 5-2), home Monday, 8:00, vs. Alcorn State (4-16, 4-3
Last game: won 81-77 Monday at UAPB
Notes: The Tigers have won 3 of their last 4 and are one bizarre second from a possible four-game streak, losing by 67-60 at league-leading Southern two Saturdays ago when a last-second foul call on Grambling in a 1-point game sparked three technical fouls on the Tigers and a game-ending seven-point spree at the line for the Jags … Antwan Burnett tops GSU in SWAC games with a 13.2 scoring average and a 7.0 rebounding rate … Kintavious Dozier is averaging 10.3 points and hitting 84 percent (21-25) on the free throw line in league games … three more Tigers are averaging 9 points in SWAC games.
WOMEN
Louisiana Tech (11-8, 4-4 CUSA)
Next: at Sam Houston (8-10, 1-7) Saturday at 2
Last game: lost 61-43 Saturday at Middle Tennessee
Notes: The Techsters have a great chance to shake off their winless CUSA road record when they visit the league’s last-place team Saturday in Huntsville, Texas … Paris Bradley tops Tech in CUSA play with her 14.8 scoring average and has hit 48.8 percent of her shots … Robyn Lee is scoring 12.8 in league play, and getting 5.9 rebounds per game … Jianna Morris averages 11.5 points in CUSA contests … the Techsters haven’t had a nailbiter yet in league play, with their closest margin a 7-point win over Jacksonville State.
Northwestern (8-10, 5-4 Southland)
Next: home vs. UT-Rio Grande Valley (10-11, 5-5), 6:30 tonight, Saturday, noon at East Texas A&M (4-14, 1-8)
Last game: lost 59-55 at Lamar Monday
Notes: The Demons lost twice in the final minute in their last two games at Stephen F. Austin and at Lamar … Northwestern has the Southland’s top two scorers in conference games – senior point guard Mya Blake (18.4 points per game) and freshman Vernell Atamah (17.1) … the Demons have two SLC losses by two points and another by four … their closest win was 46-42 at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
Grambling (7-11, 4-3 SWAC)
Next: home tonight, 6:30, vs. Alcorn State (5-13, 4-3); home Saturday, 2:00, vs. Jackson State (8-10, 6-1)
Last game: won 69-62 last Saturday at Mississippi Valley State
Notes: Grambling hasn’t had a nailbiter in SWAC play, with a six-point loss at Southern as its closest game … Kahia Warmsley is the team’s top player in conference games with averages of 15.6 points and 6.1 rebounds.
Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com