# 2014–15 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs basketball team

The 2014–15 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs basketball team represented Louisiana Tech University during the 2014–15 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bulldogs, led by fourth year head coach Michael White, played their home games at the Thomas Assembly Center and were members of Conference USA. They finished the season 27–9, 15–3 in C-USA play to finish as regular season C-USA champions. They advanced to the semifinals of the C-USA tournament where they lost to UAB. As a regular season conference champion who failed to win their conference tournament, they received an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament where they defeated Central Michigan in the first round and Texas A&M in the second round before losing in the quarterfinals to Temple.

## Previous season

The Bulldogs finished the season 29–8, 13–3 in C-USA play to finish in a four way tie for the C-USA regular season championship. They advanced to the championship game of the C-USA tournament where they lost to Tulsa. After tiebreakers, they were the #1 seed in the C-USA Tournament, and as a regular season conference champion and overall #1 seed in their conference tournament who failed to win their conference tournament, they received at automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament where they defeated Iona and Georgia to advance to the quarterfinals where they lost to Florida State.

## Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Chris Anderson | 5 | F | 6'6" | 220 | Senior | Muskegon, MI | Graduated |
| Isaiah Massey | 10 | F | 6'8" | 225 | RS Junior | McDonough, GA | Transferred to Dalton State College |
| Stojan Gjuroski | 11 | F | 6'8" | 205 | RS Junior | Gostivar, Macedonia | Play professionally overseas |
| Cordarius Johnson | 15 | G | 6'6" | 220 | Senior | Coushatta, LA | Graduated |
| Kenyon McNeail | 21 | G | 6'1" | 190 | Senior | Conway, AR | Graduated |
| Josh Butler | 22 | F | 6'6" | 225 | Freshman | Los Angeles, CA | Walk-on didn't return |
| Jaron Johnson | 23 | G | 6'6" | 205 | Senior | Tyler, TX | Graduated |
| Gilbert Talbot | 40 | F/C | 6'10" | 290 | Sophomore | Houma, LA | Transferred to New Orleans |

### Incoming Transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Merrill Holden | 21 | F | 6'8" | 215 | Sophomore | Lincoln, NE | Junior college transfer from Pratt Community College |
| Qiydar Davis | 25 | F | 6'6" | 200 | Junior | Atlanta, GA | Junior college transfer from Indian Hills Community College |

## Recruiting class of 2014

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Joniah White C | Grenada, MS | Grenada High School | 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) | 220 lb (100 kg) | Oct 29, 2013 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 71 ||||||
| Dayon Griffin SF | Saint Petersburg, FL | Saint Petersburg High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Oct 18, 2013 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Jacobi Boykins SG | Lakeland, FL | Lakeland High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 160 lb (73 kg) | Sep 9, 2013 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Xavian Stapleton SF | Madison, MS | Madison Central High School | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Aug 29, 2013 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Branden Sheppard PF | Shreveport, LA | Huntington High School | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 220 lb (100 kg) | Feb 3, 2013 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2014 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved September 9, 2014. ||||||

### Recruiting class of 2015

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Dominic Jackson SG | Arnaudville, LA | Olney Central College | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 165 lb (75 kg) | Jun 29, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: JC ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2015 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved September 9, 2014. ||||||

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/14/2014* 8:00 pm | | at Southern | W 85–76 | 1–0 | F. G. Clark Center (1,104) Baton Rouge, LA |
| 11/17/2014* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Temple Coaches vs. Cancer Classic | L 75–82 | 1–1 | Liacouras Center (4,237) Philadelphia, PA |
| 11/21/2014* 7:00 pm, ASN | | Morehead State Coaches vs. Cancer Classic | W 73–64 | 2–1 | Thomas Assembly Center (2,937) Ruston, LA |
| 11/22/2014* 6:00 pm | | American Coaches vs. Cancer Classic | W 63–44 | 3–1 | Thomas Assembly Center (2,868) Ruston, LA |
| 11/23/2014* 4:00 pm, ASN | | Presbyterian Coaches vs. Cancer Classic | W 78–46 | 4–1 | Thomas Assembly Center (2,854) Ruston, LA |
| 11/28/2014* 7:00 pm, ASN | | Samford | W 77–64 | 5–1 | Thomas Assembly Center (4,214) Ruston, LA |
| 12/02/2014* 6:30 pm | | at Northwestern State | W 99–88 | 6–1 | Prather Coliseum (2,812) Natchitoches, LA |
| 12/06/2014* 6:00 pm | | Jackson State | W 65–52 | 7–1 | Thomas Assembly Center (4,038) Ruston, LA |
| 12/10/2014* 7:00 pm | | at Louisiana–Lafayette | L 86–94 | 7–2 | Cajundome (3,786) Lafayette, IN |
| 12/14/2014* 3:00 pm, ESPNU | | at Syracuse | L 69–71 | 7–3 | Carrier Dome (19,156) Syracuse, NY |
| 12/18/2014* 6:30 pm | | Nicholls State | W 79–54 | 8–3 | Thomas Assembly Center (3,918) Ruston, LA |
| 12/23/2014* 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at NC State | L 65–73 | 8–4 | PNC Arena (15,739) Raleigh, NC |
| 12/29/2014* 6:30 pm | | Southern Arkansas | W 74–52 | 9–4 | Thomas Assembly Center (2,629) Ruston, LA |
| Conference USA regular season ||||||
| 01/03/2015 7:00 pm | | at Southern Miss | W 83–70 | 10–4 (1–0) | Reed Green Coliseum (3,187) Hattiesburg, MS |
| 01/08/2015 8:00 pm | | at UTEP | W 58–45 | 11–4 (2–0) | Don Haskins Center (8,653) El Paso, TX |
| 01/10/2015 2:00 pm | | at UTSA | W 84–72 | 12–4 (3–0) | Convocation Center (1,084) San Antonio, TX |
| 01/15/2015 7:00 pm, ASN | | UAB | W 74–71 | 13–4 (4–0) | Thomas Assembly Center (3,815) Ruston, LA |
| 01/17/2015 3:00 pm, FSN | | Middle Tennessee | W 75–68 | 14–4 (5–0) | Thomas Assembly Center (6,214) Ruston, LA |
| 01/22/2015 7:00 pm | | at North Texas | L 66–73 | 14–5 (5–1) | The Super Pit (3,293) Denton, TX |
| 01/24/2015 7:00 pm | | at Rice | W 58–45 | 15–5 (6–1) | Tudor Fieldhouse (2,613) Houston, TX |
| 01/29/2015 6:00 pm, CBSSN | | WKU | W 69–56 | 16–5 (7–1) | Thomas Assembly Center (4,029) Ruston, LA |
| 01/31/2015 4:30 pm, ASN | | Marshall | W 81–57 | 17–5 (8–1) | Thomas Assembly Center (4,731) Ruston, LA |
| 02/05/2015 8:00 pm, CBSSN | | UAB | L 60–80 | 17–6 (8–2) | Bartow Arena (4,068) Birmingham, AL |
| 02/07/2015 7:00 pm, ASN | | at Middle Tennessee | W 73–62 | 18–6 (9–2) | Murphy Center (4,986) Murfreesboro, TN |
| 02/12/2015 6:30 pm | | Florida Atlantic | W 65–54 | 19–6 (10–2) | Thomas Assembly Center (3,412) Ruston, LA |
| 02/14/2015 6:00 pm | | FIU | W 75–42 | 20–6 (11–2) | Thomas Assembly Center (3,314) Ruston, LA |
| 02/19/2015 6:00 pm, CBSSN | | at Charlotte | W 83–82 $^{OT}$ | 21–6 (12–2) | Dale F. Halton Arena (4,078) Charlotte, NC |
| 02/21/2015 2:00 pm, ASN | | at Old Dominion | L 53–72 | 21–7 (12–3) | Ted Constant Convocation Center (8,019) Norfolk, VA |
| 02/26/2015 7:00 pm, FS1 | | UTEP | W 77–60 | 22–7 (13–3) | Thomas Assembly Center (5,126) Ruston, LA |
| 02/28/2015 6:00 pm, FS1 | | UTSA | W 76–66 | 23–7 (14–3) | Thomas Assembly Center (5,328) Ruston, LA |
| 03/05/2015 7:00 pm, CBSSN | | Southern Miss | W 72–61 | 24–7 (15–3) | Thomas Assembly Center (5,805) Ruston, LA |
| Conference USA tournament ||||||
| 03/12/2015 8:30 pm, ASN | | vs. Rice Quarterfinals | W 70–64 | 25–7 | Birmingham–Jefferson Convention Complex (6,922) Birmingham, AL |
| 03/13/2015 5:30 pm, CBSSN | | vs. UAB Semifinals | L 62–72 $^{OT}$ | 25–8 | Birmingham–Jefferson Convention Complex (6,429) Birmingham, AL |
| National Invitation tournament ||||||
| 03/17/2015* 6:30 pm, ESPN3 | No. (3) | (6) Central Michigan First round | W 89–79 | 26–8 | Thomas Assembly Center (6,904) Ruston, LA |
| 03/23/2015* 6:00 pm, ESPN | No. (3) | at (2) Texas A&M Second round | W 84–72 | 27–8 | Reed Arena (3,859) College Station, TX |
| 03/25/2015* 9:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. (3) | at (1) Temple Quarterfinals | L 59–77 | 27–9 | Liacouras Center (3,906) Philadelphia, PA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. (#) during NIT is seed within region. ||||||