1984–85 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs basketball team

[2] The 1984–85 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs basketball team represented Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, Louisiana for the 1984–85 season. Although other players on the team as well as head coach Andy Russo were well in the spotlight, the real star of the show for the Bulldogs that season was Karl Malone. Malone would lead the Bulldogs to their best season to date in program history as well as earning himself All-American honors. Following the season, Malone would enter the NBA draft, being selected 13th overall by the Utah Jazz. Spending the majority of his career with Utah, Malone would be named an NBA All-Star fourteen times, NBA Most Valuable Player twice, and be inducted into the Basketball Hall of fame in 2010. [3]

1984–85 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs men's basketball
Southland Conference Regular Season Champions Southland Conference Tournament Champions
NCAA Tournament, Sweet Sixteen
Conference	Southland Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 8
AP	No. 8
1984–85 record	29–3 (11–1 Southland)
Head coach	Andy Russo (6th season)
Home arena	Thomas Assembly Center

1984–85 Southland Conference men's basketball standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 8 Louisiana Tech †	11	–	1		.917			29	–	3		.906
McNeese State	9	–	3		.750			18	–	10		.643
Lamar	8	–	4		.667			20	–	12		.625
Arkansas State	6	–	6		.500			14	–	14		.500
Northeast Louisiana	4	–	8		.333			17	–	12		.586
Texas-Arlington	3	–	9		.250			12	–	16		.429
North Texas	1	–	11		.083			5	–	23		.179
† 1985 Southland Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll[1]

Roster

1984–85 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown F/C 32 Karl Malone 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Jr Summerfield, Louisiana	Head coach Andy Russo Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt

Source[4]

Schedule and results

[5][6]

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular Season
11/28/1984*		Concordia Lutheran	W 82–61	1–0	Thomas Assembly Center  Ruston, LA
12/1/1984*		at Centenary	W 78–62	2–0	Gold Dome  Shreveport, LA
12/3/1984*		Rice	W 75–63	3–0	Thomas Assembly Center  Ruston, LA
12/7/1984*		vs. No. 6 Louisville Wendy's Classic	W 73–64	4–0	E.A. Diddle Arena  Bowling Green, KY
12/8/1984*		at Western Kentucky Wendy's Classic	W 59–54	5–0	E.A. Diddle Arena  Bowling Green, KY
12/10/1984*		Ball State	W 73–59	6–0	Thomas Assembly Center  Ruston, LA
12/14/1984*		vs. Alabama State Marshall Invitational	W 80–57	7–0	Cam Henderson Center  Huntington, WV
12/15/1984*		at Marshall Marshall Invitational	W 69–63	8–0	Cam Henderson Center  Huntington, WV
12/17/1984*		at Northwestern State	W 78–50	9–0	Prather Coliseum  Natchitoches, LA
12/29/1984*	No. 19	at Oklahoma City All-College Tournament	W 90–62	10–0	The Myriad  Oklahoma City, OK
12/30/1984*	No. 19	vs. No. 17 Oklahoma All-College Tournament	L 72–84	10–1	The Myriad  Oklahoma City, OK
1/5/1985*	No. 18	Northwestern State	W 92–63	11–1	Thomas Assembly Center  Ruston, LA
1/7/1985*	No. 18	Centenary	W 83–65	12–1	Thomas Assembly Center  Ruston, LA
1/12/1985	No. 14	at Texas-Arlington	W 76–65	13–1	Texas Hall  Arlington, TX
1/17/1985	No. 12	North Texas	W 68–50	14–1	Thomas Assembly Center  Ruston, LA
1/19/1985*	No. 12	Southwestern Louisiana	W 94–74	15–1	Thomas Assembly Center  Ruston, LA
1/24/1985	No. 12	at McNeese State	W 88–69	16–1	Lake Charles Civic Center  Lake Charles, LA
1/26/1985	No. 12	at Lamar	L 64–72	16–2	Montagne Center  Beaumont, TX
1/31/1985	No. 15	Arkansas State	W 80–73	17–2	Thomas Assembly Center  Ruston, LA
2/2/1985	No. 15	at Northeast Louisiana	W 73-63	18–2	Fant-Ewing Coliseum  Monroe, LA
2/7/1985	No. 14	at Texas-Arlington	W 86-61	19–2	Thomas Assembly Center  Ruston, LA
2/9/1985	No. 14	at North Texas	W 90-72	20–2	UNT Coliseum  Denton, TX
2/14/1985*	No. 12	at Southwestern Louisiana	W 83-76	21–2	Blackham Coliseum  Lafayette, LA
2/18/2003	No. 12	McNeese State	W 59–58	22–2	Thomas Assembly Center  Ruston, LA
2/21/1985	No. 10	Lamar	W 73–65	23–2	Thomas Assembly Center  Ruston, LA
2/23/1985	No. 10	Arkansas State	W 100–67	24–2	ASU Field House  Jonesboro, AR
2/28/1985	No. 7	Northeast Louisiana	W 72-65	25–2 (11–1)	Thomas Assembly Center  Ruston, LA
Southland Conference Tournament
3/6/1985	No. 8	Northeast Louisiana Southland Conference Tournament Semifinal	W 72-20 ^OT	26–2	Thomas Assembly Center  Ruston, LA
3/7/1985	No. 8	Lamar Southland Conference Championship	W 70-69	27–2	Thomas Assembly Center  Ruston, LA
NCAA Tournament
3/14/1985*	(5 MW) No. 8	vs. (12 MW) Pittsburgh NCAA First Round	W 78–54	28–2	Mabee Center  Tulsa, OK
3/16/1985*	(5 MW) No. 8	vs. (4 MW) Ohio State NCAA Round of 32	W 79–67	29–2	Mabee Center  Tulsa, OK
3/21/1985*	(5 MW) No. 8	vs. (1 MW) No. 4 Oklahoma Midwest Regional Semifinal – Sweet Sixteen	L 84–86 ^OT	29–3	Reunion Arena  Dallas, TX
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

Rankings

Main article: 1984–85 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

Awards and honors

• Karl Malone – All-American

NBA Draft

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
1	13	Karl Malone	Utah Jazz

[7]

References

1. sports-reference.com 1984-85 Southland Conference Season Summary
2. "1984-85 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs Roster and Stats - College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.
3. "History" (PDF). grfx.cstv.com.
4. "1984-85 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs Roster and Stats". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved April 12, 2020.
5. "1984-85 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs Schedule and Results - College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.
6. "2019–20 Louisiana Tech Men's Basketball Media Guide". Louisiana Tech Athletics. Retrieved April 12, 2020.
7. "1985 NBA Draft". Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved April 12, 2020.