# 1984–85 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs basketball team

The 1984–85 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs basketball team represented Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, Louisiana for the 1984–85 season. Although other players on the team as well as head coach Andy Russo were well in the spotlight, the real star of the show for the Bulldogs that season was Karl Malone. Malone would lead the Bulldogs to their best season to date in program history as well as earning himself All-American honors. Following the season, Malone would enter the NBA draft, being selected 13th overall by the Utah Jazz. Spending the majority of his career with Utah, Malone would be named an NBA All-Star fourteen times, NBA Most Valuable Player twice, and be inducted into the Basketball Hall of fame in 2010.

## Roster

Source

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| 11/28/1984* | | Concordia Lutheran | W 82–61 | 1–0 | Thomas Assembly Center (3,150) Ruston, LA |
| 12/1/1984* | | at Centenary | W 78–62 | 2–0 | Gold Dome (3,382) Shreveport, LA |
| 12/3/1984* | | Rice | W 75–63 | 3–0 | Thomas Assembly Center (4,325) Ruston, LA |
| 12/7/1984* | | vs. No. 6 Louisville Wendy's Classic | W 73–64 | 4–0 | E.A. Diddle Arena (12,450) Bowling Green, KY |
| 12/8/1984* | | at Western Kentucky Wendy's Classic | W 59–54 | 5–0 | E.A. Diddle Arena (13,000) Bowling Green, KY |
| 12/10/1984* | | Ball State | W 73–59 | 6–0 | Thomas Assembly Center (3,780) Ruston, LA |
| 12/14/1984* | | vs. Alabama State Marshall Invitational | W 80–57 | 7–0 | Cam Henderson Center (7,000) Huntington, WV |
| 12/15/1984* | | at Marshall Marshall Invitational | W 69–63 | 8–0 | Cam Henderson Center (8,446) Huntington, WV |
| 12/17/1984* | | at Northwestern State | W 78–50 | 9–0 | Prather Coliseum (1,200) Natchitoches, LA |
| 12/29/1984* | No. 19 | at Oklahoma City All-College Tournament | W 90–62 | 10–0 | The Myriad (9,458) Oklahoma City, OK |
| 12/30/1984* | No. 19 | vs. No. 17 Oklahoma All-College Tournament | L 72–84 | 10–1 | The Myriad (10,287) Oklahoma City, OK |
| 1/5/1985* | No. 18 | Northwestern State | W 92–63 | 11–1 | Thomas Assembly Center (6,120) Ruston, LA |
| 1/7/1985* | No. 18 | Centenary | W 83–65 | 12–1 | Thomas Assembly Center (5,660) Ruston, LA |
| 1/12/1985 | No. 14 | at Texas-Arlington | W 76–65 | 13–1 | Texas Hall (2,500) Arlington, TX |
| 1/17/1985 | No. 12 | North Texas | W 68–50 | 14–1 | Thomas Assembly Center (3,370) Ruston, LA |
| 1/19/1985* | No. 12 | Southwestern Louisiana | W 94–74 | 15–1 | Thomas Assembly Center (5,150) Ruston, LA |
| 1/24/1985 | No. 12 | at McNeese State | W 88–69 | 16–1 | Lake Charles Civic Center (6,700) Lake Charles, LA |
| 1/26/1985 | No. 12 | at Lamar | L 64–72 | 16–2 | Montagne Center (8,317) Beaumont, TX |
| 1/31/1985 | No. 15 | Arkansas State | W 80–73 | 17–2 | Thomas Assembly Center (3,360) Ruston, LA |
| 2/2/1985 | No. 15 | at Northeast Louisiana | W 73-63 | 18–2 | Fant-Ewing Coliseum (6,840) Monroe, LA |
| 2/7/1985 | No. 14 | at Texas-Arlington | W 86-61 | 19–2 | Thomas Assembly Center (3,720) Ruston, LA |
| 2/9/1985 | No. 14 | at North Texas | W 90-72 | 20–2 | UNT Coliseum (2,100) Denton, TX |
| 2/14/1985* | No. 12 | at Southwestern Louisiana | W 83-76 | 21–2 | Blackham Coliseum (8,800) Lafayette, LA |
| 2/18/2003 | No. 12 | McNeese State | W 59–58 | 22–2 | Thomas Assembly Center (5,410) Ruston, LA |
| 2/21/1985 | No. 10 | Lamar | W 73–65 | 23–2 | Thomas Assembly Center (7,215) Ruston, LA |
| 2/23/1985 | No. 10 | Arkansas State | W 100–67 | 24–2 | ASU Field House (4,874) Jonesboro, AR |
| 2/28/1985 | No. 7 | Northeast Louisiana | W 72-65 | 25–2 (11–1) | Thomas Assembly Center (6,090) Ruston, LA |
| Southland Conference tournament ||||||
| 3/6/1985 | No. 8 | Northeast Louisiana Southland Conference tournament Semifinal | W 72-20 $^{OT}$ | 26–2 | Thomas Assembly Center (6,155) Ruston, LA |
| 3/7/1985 | No. 8 | Lamar Southland Conference Championship | W 70-69 | 27–2 | Thomas Assembly Center (6,620) Ruston, LA |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| 3/14/1985* | (5 MW) No. 8 | vs. (12 MW) Pittsburgh NCAA first round | W 78–54 | 28–2 | Mabee Center (9,975) Tulsa, OK |
| 3/16/1985* | (5 MW) No. 8 | vs. (4 MW) Ohio State NCAA round of 32 | W 79–67 | 29–2 | Mabee Center (10,575) Tulsa, OK |
| 3/21/1985* | (5 MW) No. 8 | vs. (1 MW) No. 4 Oklahoma Midwest Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen | L 84–86 | 29–3 | Reunion Arena (17,007) Dallas, TX |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ||||||

## Awards and honors

* Karl Malone – All-American

## NBA draft

| Round | Pick | Player | NBA Club |
| 1 | 13 | Karl Malone | Utah Jazz |