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
Conference	Conference USA
Record	23–10 (12–6 C-USA)
Head coach	Eric Konkol (1st season)
Assistant coaches	Duffy Conroy Corey Barker Tony Skinn
Home arena	Thomas Assembly Center

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

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

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

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

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: Scout: N/A   Rivals:   247Sports: N/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: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/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

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 Eric Konkol (UW–Eau Claire) Assistant coach(es) Duffy Conroy (St. Ambrose) Corey Barker (Prairie View A&M) Tony Skinn (George Mason) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Schedule

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.