JOURNAL SPORTS
RUSTON – Down 20 points and ice cold from beyond the arc, the Louisiana Tech basketball team once again found itself staring at a familiar script against visiting Middle Tennessee.
This time, the ending belonged to the Bulldogs.
D.J. Dudley buried a contested three with 4.7 seconds remaining — Tech’s first and only made three of the night — to cap a stunning comeback as the Bulldogs erased a massive deficit and stunned the Blue Raiders, 59-58, Wednesday night inside the Thomas Assembly Center on Karl Malone Court.
“If it is a clutch situation, I am going to hit the shot,” said Dudley, who led the Bulldogs with 19 points. “I trust myself. I feel like no matter what happens in that situation, I am going to be confident and feel like I am going to make the shot.”
The 20-point come-from-behind-win was the second largest in the last 50 years and the largest since Dec. 12, 2009, when Tech overcame a 22-point deficit to defeat then-Division I Centenary.
Much like the previous meeting 12 days ago in Murfreesboro, Tech (10-7, 3-3 CUSA) was all out of sorts while MTSU (10-7, 4-2 CUSA) ran away with the lead. Last time, the Blue Raiders used a barrage of three-pointers. This time, they were dominating inside on both ends.
The lead ballooned to 34-14 for the visiting team after Kamari Lands’ dunk with 6:06 left before halftime. MTSU took a 40-21 advantage into the locker room, holding Tech to just 20.7 percent shooting and a 0-for-4 mark from three.
The Bulldogs used a 16-3 run to start the second half and make it a six-point deficit with still 12:50 to play in the contest.
MTSU was holding onto the lead for dear life, making just one field goal in the final 5-plus minutes. That one was a big one though as Tre Green connected on a three-pointer from the wing to make it 58-51 in favor of the Blue Raiders with 3:31 left.
With the Bulldogs using pretty much the same lineup for the entire second half, Tech looked as though it may have run out of gas. But that was not the case as the Bulldogs had one more run in them.
Dudley got it started at the 2:41 mark, sinking all three free throws after getting fouled on a three-point attempt to get back to within four. After another defensive stop, Jaylen Fenner made a strong move to the basket to make it a one-possession game.
The home crowd got an assist on the ensuing play as the noise in the TAC contributed when MTSU’s Torey Alston missed both of his free throw attempts, keeping the score at 58-56. Tech had two tries to tie or take the lead, but Fenner’s three-pointer from the corner was off the mark, now making it 0-for-11 from deep for the team. Then it was Bates who missed on his floater in the lane.
With 37 ticks to go, the Bulldogs got yet another defensive stop, but the ball went out of bounds as players were fighting for the rebound. Initially called Blue Raiders ball, the officials overturned the call, giving Tech one last chance.
Both Dudley and Bates tried to get downhill for a potentially game-tying shot at the rim, but all attempts were unsuccessful. Ultimately, Bates kicked the ball out to Dudley who side-stepped his defender and let it fly from three in front of the team bench.
Nothing but net.
As was the case for the entire second half, LA Tech made another defensive stand, forcing a missed shot by MTSU to complete the second-largest comeback in the last 50 years.
The Bulldogs outscored the Blue Raiders, 38-18, in the last 20 minutes. Fenner and A.J. Bates tallied 12 and 10 points, respectively. Avery Thomas II controlled the glass all night for Tech, finishing with a career-tying 15 boards.