Bates scores 23, Louisiana Tech beats Ragin' Cajuns 65-44

RUSTON, La. (AP) — AJ Bates scored 23 points as Louisiana Tech beat Louisiana-Lafayette 65-44 on Saturday.

Bates also contributed eight assists for the Bulldogs (6-3). DJ Dudley added 19 points while going 7 of 13 (5 for 8 from 3-point range) while he also had three steals. Kaden Cooper shot 3 for 9 and 4 of 4 from the free-throw line to finish with 10 points, while adding 19 rebounds.

The Ragin' Cajuns (1-10) were led in scoring by Dorian Finister, who finished with 14 points. Jaxon Olvera added nine points for Louisiana. The Ragin' Cajuns extended their losing streak to nine in a row.

Louisiana Tech took the lead with 14:18 left in the first half and did not trail again. Bates led their team in scoring with 15 points in the first half to help put them up 31-19 at the break.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.