RUSTON — About 30 minutes after Louisiana Tech’s win Saturday, Kenyon McNeail moved around the arc at the Thomas Assembly Center and drained 3-pointer after 3-pointer.
There were no defenders, just air between him and the basket, kind of like how it played out just hours earlier.
McNeail and the Bulldogs torched the nets at the TAC, putting together one of the best performances in school history with a 126-52 thrashing of Longwood.
In the process, Tech (12-3) scored the most points in school history — edging the previous record of 123 — and added another record for the most 3-pointers made (17) in the 74-point win.
“I’m very surprised we won in the fashion we did,” Tech coach Michael White said. “I guess it just goes to show that we can probably beat a lot of folks if we shoot the ball like that.”
Tech couldn’t miss against Longwood (5-10) as it started 13 of 21 from beyond the arc and ended up 17 of 35 (48.6 percent).
The Bulldogs finished 42 of 76 from the field (55 percent) in what was far and away the best offensive outburst of the season. Not known for free throw shooting, Tech even drained 23 straight to start the game — another school record.
Seven players finished in double-figures, led by McNeail’s 21 points. Fifteen of his points came via 3-pointers, which seemed like layups to him. Raheem Appleby added 18, Alex Hamilton netted 14 and Chris Anderson, Speedy Smith, Cordarius Johnson and Jaron Johnson all chipped in with 13.
“I might not score another 20 points, but we just wanna pass the ball and work with each other and get open,” McNeail said. “We know the ball is going to come back to us any time to get a good shot.”
Tech racked up 29 assists on its 42 made field goals and moved the ball around with ease like it was playing at the YMCA. Led by Appleby, Hamilton and Smith, the Bulldogs had wide-open shots the entire night.
“We were very unselfish,” White said. “We turned down average shots to get really good shots. It was as good of an offensive performance that I’ve been associated with.”
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Hamilton finished with 12 assists. Smith, who notched his 400th career assist, added six, and Appleby had two.
Tech led from the tip behind Appleby’s 15 first-half points and made it look far too easy against a Longwood team that upset TCU earlier this season.
Like he’s done so many times this season, Appleby got off to a fast start and scored 11 of Tech’s first 19 points.
Then it was McNeail’s turn.
The senior buried four 3-pointers in a span of three minutes, including three straight, to help give the Bulldogs a 29-point lead with 1:52 until halftime.
“We had Speedy, Raheem and Alex getting in the paint whenever they wanted to so that put a lot of pressure on the defense to try and guard them,” McNeail said. “It led to kick outs for wide open 3s.”
As usual, Tech’s defense caused plenty of difficult shots for Longwood and turned them into easy points. The Lancers shot just 33 percent, and the Bulldogs cleaned up with 55 rebounds.
Tech’s lead hit the 40-point mark with 15:57 left in the game when Appleby hooked up with Hamilton for a thunderous alley-oop dunk. The Bulldogs then eclipsed the 100-point mark on a 3-pointer from Smith with 9:10 remaining, which marked the fourth 100-point game of the season.
“I can’t tell you the secret, but lately we’ve been focusing on a lot of defense and trying to turn teams over, and I guess it just turned into confidence on offense,” Smith said.
Tech has some time to let the nets regroup at the TAC before hosting Florida Atlantic on Thursday in the Conference USA opener.
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