Obviously a big game as Texas State just took the lead in the conference on Saturday and can remain there with a win, controlling its own destiny for a championship. The university is pushing hard for an attendance record this game if you're not on social media and haven't seen the multitude of posts. Also they're trying for a "whiteout":
Saturday Schedule
Troy @ App State (-3.5) - 5:30pm
South Alabama (-1) @ Coastal Carolina - 6pm
Georgia Southern @ Georgia State (-10.5) - 6pm
Louisiana (-3.5) @ ULM - 6:30pm
Arkansas State @ Texas State (-5) - 7pm
Little Rock @ UTA (-10) - 7pm
Troy @ App is interesting considering they're in 2nd and 3rd. If we win we're guaranteed to make a game up on the loser of that game, but if we lose we're guaranteed to lose a game in the standings to the winner. So if we lose tonight, we're guaranteed to drop out of 1st as both are within a game of us.
Conference Standings
1. Texas State 8-3
2. App State 10-4
3. Troy 8-4
4. South Alabama 7-5
5. Arkansas State 6-5
6. Georgia State 5-5
7. UTA 6-7
8. Coastal Carolina 5-7
9. Louisiana 5-8
10. ULM 5-9
11. Georgia Southern 4-8
12. Little Rock 3-7
Every team is above the 80% threshold at this point (which by my math is 9.6), so if there are no more cancelations it shouldn't come into play. GSU and LR are cutting it close at 10 games played though. Could you imagine being a top-seed in the tourney and getting saddled with a really dangerous GSU team that got dropped to the bottom of the standings on games played though early in the tournament? I'm gonna actively pull for them to not have any more cancelations. Little Rock can lose all they want....
NET Rankings
121. South Alabama (+5)
137. Texas State (-2)
160. Coastal Carolina (+13)
164. App State (-10)
165. Arkansas State (-9)
172. Troy (-11)
197. Georgia State (+20)
206. Louisiana (-9)
227. UTA (+6)
232. Georgia Southern (-9)
268. ULM (-3)
318. Little Rock (+5)
Dropping a couple spots after a road win is annoying...
TXST News
Scouting Arkansas State
This is the 2nd game of the season with the Red Wolves. They've gone just 2-4 since our last meeting so they've started to struggle a bit, even losing to ULM at home in that stretch. Going into the last game we were tied for 2nd. Going into this game we're in 1st and they're in 5th.
I covered their 3-4 players to watch in a lot of depth before the last game here:
maroonandgolden.com
Norchad Omier has likely already locked up SBC Player of the Year. The guy is just putting up ridiculous numbers like a 23 point, 26 rebound game in that loss to ULM. 26 rebounds in a college basketball game is just unheard of.
Last Meeting/Series History
One of our 3 conference losses this year was at Arkansas State back on January 22nd. Small had a double-double with 17 and 10 but it wasn't enough as A-State won the game 67-60. Really we played terribly that game and were lucky to keep it as close as we did.
Texas State still holds a 10-4 overall series advantage and had won 10 straight in the series before that game. TXST is 5-1 all-time vs. the Red Wolves in San Marcos.
Betting Odds
Bobcats opened as 4 point favorites and its currently sitting at 5. I saw 5.5 late last night/early this morning. I expected something in the 4-7 range so sounds about right.
Arkansas State Message Board
They don't have a TXST-specific game thread up yet but are active on their board with a "Fire Balado now" thread with almost 500 posts. Guessing they're not too happy with this 2-4 stretch to run them basically out of contention with the best player in the league on the roster.
Saturday Schedule
Troy @ App State (-3.5) - 5:30pm
South Alabama (-1) @ Coastal Carolina - 6pm
Georgia Southern @ Georgia State (-10.5) - 6pm
Louisiana (-3.5) @ ULM - 6:30pm
Arkansas State @ Texas State (-5) - 7pm
Little Rock @ UTA (-10) - 7pm
Troy @ App is interesting considering they're in 2nd and 3rd. If we win we're guaranteed to make a game up on the loser of that game, but if we lose we're guaranteed to lose a game in the standings to the winner. So if we lose tonight, we're guaranteed to drop out of 1st as both are within a game of us.
Conference Standings
1. Texas State 8-3
2. App State 10-4
3. Troy 8-4
4. South Alabama 7-5
5. Arkansas State 6-5
6. Georgia State 5-5
7. UTA 6-7
8. Coastal Carolina 5-7
9. Louisiana 5-8
10. ULM 5-9
11. Georgia Southern 4-8
12. Little Rock 3-7
Every team is above the 80% threshold at this point (which by my math is 9.6), so if there are no more cancelations it shouldn't come into play. GSU and LR are cutting it close at 10 games played though. Could you imagine being a top-seed in the tourney and getting saddled with a really dangerous GSU team that got dropped to the bottom of the standings on games played though early in the tournament? I'm gonna actively pull for them to not have any more cancelations. Little Rock can lose all they want....
NET Rankings
121. South Alabama (+5)
137. Texas State (-2)
160. Coastal Carolina (+13)
164. App State (-10)
165. Arkansas State (-9)
172. Troy (-11)
197. Georgia State (+20)
206. Louisiana (-9)
227. UTA (+6)
232. Georgia Southern (-9)
268. ULM (-3)
318. Little Rock (+5)
Dropping a couple spots after a road win is annoying...
TXST News
- Texas State is coming off a 63-54 road win over ULM to propel the Bobcats into 1st place for the first time this season. TXST is currently riding a 5-game winning streak and here's a very interesting stat: The Bobcats have won 16 straight games in the month of February. Now we just need some of that February success to bleed into March...
- In the ULM win, PF Isiah Small notched his 500th rebound in his career. He's the 22nd Bobcat all-time to reach that mark.
- Wing Shelby Adams had 17 to lead TXST in the win at ULM, tying his career high.
- Backup C Nighael Ceaser and reserve PF Nate Lacewell were out last week for the Louisiana road trip. Lacewell hasn't been playing much this year, but Ceaser has essentially split time with starting C Nate Martin. With Ceaser out, 3rd string true freshman C Brandon Love has seen a big increase in playing time.
- I feel we've been disrespected in it all year, but TXST is finally receiving some votes in the Mid-Major Top 25 after last week's 2-0 week moved us to 17-6 overall. Still not ranked, but at least some of the coaches on the voting panel put us on their ballots finally.
Scouting Arkansas State
This is the 2nd game of the season with the Red Wolves. They've gone just 2-4 since our last meeting so they've started to struggle a bit, even losing to ULM at home in that stretch. Going into the last game we were tied for 2nd. Going into this game we're in 1st and they're in 5th.
I covered their 3-4 players to watch in a lot of depth before the last game here:
Game Thread - @ Arkansas State
Big game today in Jonesboro in a battle of the two teams tied in 2nd place right now in the conference as Texas State takes on Arkansas State. Saturday Schedule Coastal Carolina @ Georgia State (-5.5) - 1pm Texas State @ Arkansas State (Pk) - 2pm App State @ Georgia Southern (-1.5) - 2pm South...
Norchad Omier has likely already locked up SBC Player of the Year. The guy is just putting up ridiculous numbers like a 23 point, 26 rebound game in that loss to ULM. 26 rebounds in a college basketball game is just unheard of.
Last Meeting/Series History
One of our 3 conference losses this year was at Arkansas State back on January 22nd. Small had a double-double with 17 and 10 but it wasn't enough as A-State won the game 67-60. Really we played terribly that game and were lucky to keep it as close as we did.
Texas State still holds a 10-4 overall series advantage and had won 10 straight in the series before that game. TXST is 5-1 all-time vs. the Red Wolves in San Marcos.
Betting Odds
Bobcats opened as 4 point favorites and its currently sitting at 5. I saw 5.5 late last night/early this morning. I expected something in the 4-7 range so sounds about right.
Arkansas State Message Board
They don't have a TXST-specific game thread up yet but are active on their board with a "Fire Balado now" thread with almost 500 posts. Guessing they're not too happy with this 2-4 stretch to run them basically out of contention with the best player in the league on the roster.
