2015–16 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs basketball team

The 2015–16 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs basketball team represented Louisiana Tech University during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bulldogs, led by first year head coach Eric Konkol, played their home games at the Thomas Assembly Center and were members of Conference USA. They finished the season 23–10, 12–6 in C-USA play to finish in three-way tie for third place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the C-USA tournament to Old Dominion. They were invited to the inaugural Vegas 16, which only had eight teams, where they lost in the quarterfinals to East Tennessee State.

2015–16 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs basketball
Vegas 16, Quarterfinals
ConferenceConference USA
Record23–10 (12–6 C-USA)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Home arenaThomas Assembly Center
Seasons
2015–16 Conference USA men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
UAB 16 2   .889 26 7   .788
Middle Tennessee 13 5   .722 25 10   .714
Marshall 12 6   .667 17 16   .515
Louisiana Tech 12 6   .667 23 10   .697
Old Dominion 12 6   .667 25 13   .658
UTEP 10 8   .556 19 14   .576
Charlotte 9 9   .500 14 19   .424
Western Kentucky 8 10   .444 18 16   .529
North Texas 7 11   .389 12 20   .375
Rice 7 11   .389 12 20   .375
FIU 7 11   .389 13 19   .406
Florida Atlantic 5 13   .278 8 25   .242
Southern Miss* 5 13   .278 8 21   .276
UTSA 3 15   .167 5 27   .156
*Ineligible for postseason play due to self-imposed postseason ban.
2016 C-USA Tournament winner

Previous season

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The Bulldogs finished the 2014–15 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.

Departures

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Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes
Michale Kyser 1 F 6'10" 205 Senior Lancaster, TX Graduated
Raheem Appleby 3 G 6'4" 160 Senior Jacksonville, AR Graduated
Speedy Smith 4 G 6'3" 180 Senior St. Petersburg, FL Graduated
Xavian Stapleton 11 G 6'6" 190 Freshman Flora, MS Transferred to Mississippi State
Leo Edwards 33 F 6'8" 225 RS Freshman Detroit, MI Transferred to IPFW

Incoming Transfers

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Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes
DaShawn Robinson 23 G 6'4" 190 Junior Houston, Texas Junior college transferred from Navarro College

Recruiting class of 2015

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US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Derric Jean
SG
Hollywood, FL McArthur High School 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Jun 16, 2015 
Recruiting star ratings: ScoutN/A   Rivals:    247SportsN/A    ESPN grade: 78
Jy'Lan Washington
SF
Smyrna, TN Stewarts Creek School 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jun 8, 2015 
Recruiting star ratings: ScoutN/A   RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A    ESPN grade: 0
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 July 30, 2015.

Roster

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2015–16 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown
G 0 Alex Hamilton 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sr Chipley, FL
G 1 Derric Jean 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Fr Miami, FL
F 2 Erik McCree 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) RS Jr Orlando, FL
C 5 Joniah White 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 210 lb (95 kg) So Duck Hill, MS
G 10 Dayon Griffin 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 188 lb (85 kg) So St. Petersburg, FL
G 13 Jacobi Boykins 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 160 lb (73 kg) So St. Petersburg, FL
F 15 Branden Sheppard 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 225 lb (102 kg) RS Fr Shreveport, LA
F 21 Merrill Holden 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Jr Lincoln, NE
F 22 Jy'lan Washington 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr Smyrna, TN
G 23 Da'Shawn Robinson 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Jr Houston, TX
G 25 Qiydar Davis 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Sr Atlanta, GA
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster

Schedule

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[1]

Date
time, TV
Opponent Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Exhibition
11/05/2015*
6:30 pm
Southwest Baptist W 87–53 
Thomas Assembly Center 
Ruston, LA
Non-conference regular season
11/13/2015*
6:30 pm
Millsaps W 95–33  1–0
Thomas Assembly Center (3,513)
Ruston, LA
11/17/2015*
6:30 pm
Texas–Arlington
Hoophall Miami Invitational
W 80–68  2–0
Thomas Assembly Center (3,012)
Ruston, LA
11/21/2015*
7:00 pm
at Grambling State
Hoophall Miami Invitational
W 86–67  3–0
Fredrick C. Hobdy Assembly Center (1,504)
Grambling, LA
11/24/2015*
7:00 pm, BTN
at Ohio State
Hoophall Miami Invitational
W 82–74  4–0
Value City Arena (11,572)
Columbus, OH
11/27/2015*
6:30 pm
North Carolina Central W 71–50  5–0
Thomas Assembly Center (4,227)
Ruston, LA
12/01/2015*
8:00 pm, CBSSN
at Memphis
Hoophall Miami Invitational
L 68–94  5–1
FedEx Forum (11,114)
Memphis, TN
12/04/2015*
6:30 pm
Jackson State W 95–88 2OT 6–1
Thomas Assembly Center (3,504)
Ruston, LA
12/08/2015*
6:30 pm
LSU–Shreveport W 82–49  7–1
Thomas Assembly Center (3,612)
Ruston, LA
12/12/2015*
12:00 pm, ASN
Louisiana–Lafayette W 91–79  8–1
Thomas Assembly Center (3,912)
Ruston, LA
12/15/2015*
6:00 pm, SECN
at Ole Miss L 80–99  8–2
Tad Smith Coliseum (5,606)
Oxford, MS
12/18/2015*
6:30 pm
Southern W 83–76  9–2
Thomas Assembly Center (2,519)
Ruston, LA
12/22/2015*
6:00 pm, ESPN3
at Florida Gulf Coast W 66–63  10–2
Alico Arena (3,514)
Fort Myers, FL
12/28/2015*
6:00 pm
Prairie View A&M W 77–58  11–2
Thomas Assembly Center (2,528)
Ruston, LA
Conference USA regular season
01/02/2016
6:00 pm
Southern Miss W 87–57  12–2
(1–0)
Thomas Assembly Center (3,302)
Ruston, LA
01/07/2016
8:30 pm, CBSSN
Old Dominion L 53–56  12–3
(1–1)
Thomas Assembly Center (4,807)
Ruston, LA
01/09/2016
6:00 pm
Charlotte W 93–90 OT 13–3
(2–1)
Thomas Assembly Center (4,209)
Ruston, LA
01/14/2016
6:00 pm
at FIU L 74–88  13–4
(2–2)
FIU Arena (1,240)
Miami, FL
01/16/2016
6:00 pm
at Florida Atlantic L 61–63  13–5
(2–3)
FAU Arena 
Boca Raton, FL
01/23/2016
7:00 pm, ASN
at Southern Miss W 70–59  14–5
(3–3)
Reed Green Coliseum (3,334)
Hattiesburg, MS
01/28/2016
6:30 pm
UTSA W 85–75  15–5
(4–3)
Thomas Assembly Center (3,428)
Ruston, LA
01/31/2016
3:00 pm, FSN
UTEP W 78–70  16–5
(5–3)
Thomas Assembly Center (4,131)
Ruston, LA
02/04/2016
7:00 pm
at Rice W 90–78  17–5
(6–3)
Tudor Fieldhouse (1,660)
Houston, TX
02/06/2016
3:00 pm, ASN
at North Texas L 69–80  17–6
(6–4)
The Super Pit (4,610)
Denton, TX
02/11/2016
8:00 pm, ASN
Middle Tennessee W 73–63  18–6
(7–4)
Thomas Assembly Center (5,011)
Ruston, LA
02/13/2016
1:00 pm, FSN
UAB W 85–76  19–6
(8–4)
Thomas Assembly Center (5,213)
Ruston, LA
02/18/2016
7:00 pm
at UTSA W 87–74  20–6
(9–4)
Convocation Center (1,258)
San Antonio, TX
02/20/2016
5:00 pm, CBSSN
at UTEP L 80–91  20–7
(9–5)
Don Haskins Center (7,313)
El Paso, TX
02/25/2016
6:30 pm
North Texas W 73–62 OT 21–7
(10–5)
Thomas Assembly Center (3,092)
Ruston, LA
02/27/2016
6:00 pm
Rice W 88–69  22–7
(11–5)
Thomas Assembly Center (5,527)
Ruston, LA
03/03/2016
6:00 pm, ASN
at Marshall W 97–94  23–7
(12–5)
Cam Henderson Center (5,945)
Huntington, WV
03/05/2016
7:00 pm
at WKU L 90–96 OT 23–8
(12–6)
E. A. Diddle Arena (4,591)
Bowling Green, KY
Conference USA tournament
03/10/2016
2:30 pm, ASN
vs. Old Dominion
Quarterfinals
L 52–68  23–9
Legacy Arena (9,797)
Birmingham, AL
Vegas 16
03/28/2016*
8:00 pm, CBSSN
vs. East Tennessee State
Quarterfinals
L 83–88  23–10
Mandalay Bay Events Center 
Paradise, NV
*Non-conference game. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Time.

References

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  1. ^ "LA Tech Official Athletic Site". latechsports.com. Archived from the original on May 2, 2015. Retrieved July 30, 2015.