Getting this one started early as I likely won't be able to write it tomorrow morning. DON'T SHOW UP TODAY REV. THE GAME IS ON SATURDAY!!!
Riding a 4-game winning streak, including the last 2 on the road, Texas State returns to Strahan Arena for a critical 3-game homestand as it tries to keep up with the leaders in the Sun Belt. Everything starts with rival UTA in a revenge game from last year's 2 heartbreaking losses to the Mavericks, including the game in San Marcos in front of the all-time record crowd.
Conference Standings
1. Little Rock 8-2
2. Georgia State 6-3 (0-0 vs. GS, 0-0 vs. LR, 0-1 vs. A-State, 1-0 vs. TXST, 1-0 vs. USA)
3. Georgia Southern 6-3 (0-0 vs. GSU, 0-1 vs. LR, 0-0 vs. A-State, 1-0 vs. TXST, 0-1 vs. USA)
4. Arkansas State 6-4
5. Texas State 5-4
6. South Alabama 5-5
7. Coastal Carolina 4-5 (1-0 vs. UTA/App)
8. UTA 4-5 (1-1 vs. CCU/App)
9. Appalachian State 4-5 (0-1 vs. CCU/UTA)
10. Troy 4-6
11. ULM 2-7 (0-0 vs. UL, 0-1 vs. LR, 0-2 vs. GSU/GS, 0-1 vs. A-State, 0-1 vs. TXST, 1-0 vs. USA)
12. Louisiana 2-7 (0-0 vs. ULM, 0-1 vs. LR, 0-2 vs. GSU/GS, 0-1 vs. A-State, 0-1 vs. TXST, 0-1 vs. USA)
Things slowly starting to take shape in the conference in a year with a ton of parity. This is a big game Saturday as TXST is only 1 game out of 2nd place right now. Little Rock is a full 2.5 games ahead of TXST right now, so we really can't afford a loss if we want to keep pace with them to have any shot at a conference championship as we reach the halfway point of conference play.
Saturday's Schedule
Appalachian State @ Coastal Carolina - 1pm
UTA @ Texas State - 4pm
Georgia State @ Georgia Southern - 4pm
Arkansas State @ Troy - 4:15pm
Little Rock @ South Alabama - 7pm
ULM @ Louisiana - 7pm
All 6 games airing on ESPN+
NET Ratings (through games 1/23)
105. Georgia State (-7)
118. UTA (+13)
145. Texas State (+4)
146. Little Rock (+23)
156. Georgia Southern (-9)
175. South Alabama (+10)
185. Coastal Carolina (+2)
189. Appalachian State (-6)
198. Arkansas State (+8)
234. Troy (+6)
267. Louisiana (-11)
276. ULM (-21)
This is a matchup of 2 of the top 3 teams in the conference in the NET ratings. UTA played a tough non-conference schedule as they usually do, which bodes well for this rating system. Baylor being #1 and UH cracking the top 25 helping is TXST's rating some too, though some bad losses are holding us back badly (UTSA and Troy at home mostly).
TXST News
UTA has been tough to figure out this year and I'm still not sure if they're one of the better teams in the league this year or have taken a huge step back. Despite sitting in just 8th in the conference, if I had to rank teams by odds of winning the league and/or conference tournament I'd probably still have the Mavs top 4 or 5. I know its a team you don't want to take lightly at a minimum, and considering how things went against them last year we'd be foolish to.
UTA is just a game back from TXST at 4-5 right now and sits in a 3-way tie for 7th place. They basically have played the same schedule as TXST (other than they played USA and we played Troy), and the only difference is we beat Coastal while UTA lost to them. Otherwise TXST and UTA have been identical in conference play. Overall, the Mavs are just 8-12 as they went just 4-7 in non-conference play (just 2-7 vs. D1 teams). Their two D1 non-conference wins were at home vs. Tulsa (which is a quality win, Tulsa smoked a ranked Memphis team the other night 80-40) and on the road at Elon. Their losses were on the road at Nevada, #12 Oregon, #2 Gonzaga, #25 Houston and at home to 16-5 Furman, UNT, and UC Santa Barbara. All 7 of those teams have at least 12 wins. They played a really tough non-conference schedule.
UTA went 17-16 overall last year and 12-6 in Sun Belt play, finishing in a 3-way tie for 2nd place (along with TXST). They made it to the Sun Belt Tournament Championship game but fell to Georgia State to finish 1 win away from an NCAA tournament bid. Without an NIT bid they declined any possible CIT/CBI bids. They were picked to finish in 2nd in the SBC Preseason Poll and garnered 2 first place votes.
5'9" Sr. PG Brian Warren was named a preseason all-SBC 1st team selection this year after being named to the 3rd team to end last season. He led the team in scoring (15.9 PPG), assists (3.6 APG), steals (1.2 SPG), and minutes played (29.8 MPG) last year. He also dropped a then-career high 30 on TXST in San Marcos last year while hitting the shots to force OT, double OT, and the game winning FTs in double OT. Mavs fans have been a bit disappointed in Warren's season this year though so far as his scoring has dipped some (13.1 PPG) while his efficiency has left a lot to be desired (38.7% from the field and just 24.7% from 3). He's still running the point adequately as he's 4th in the Sun Belt in assists with 3.7 per game and 3rd in assist/turnover ratio at 1.9.
This year's leading scorer so far has been 6'4" So. G David Azore. Azore was 3rd on the team in scoring last year as a freshman with 8.4 per game. He's upped that significantly to 15.7 per game this year which ranks him 5th in the Sun Belt. He's also top 10 in the Sun Belt in assists (3.6 per game), FG% (47.4%), FT% (82.9%), and assist/turnover ratio (1.5). Azore and Warren carry the scoring load for this team as nobody else averages more than 8 per game. They combine for about 40% of the Mavs total scoring.
One frontcourt player to watch is 6'9" Sr. F Jabari Narcis. Narcis only adds 6.9 PPG (6th on the team) but he's 6th in the Sun Belt in rebounding at 6.8 per game, 4th in defensive rebounds at 5.0 per game, and 4th in blocks with 1.3 per game. He can be disruptive in the paint.
Texas State and UTA are similar in a lot of ways. TXST scores 72.7 per game and UTA scores 71.4 per game. TXST gives up 64.1 per game and UTA gives up 68.6 per game. They are by far and away the top 2 FT shooting teams in the league (76.1% for UTA and 76.0% for TXST) and are similarly tough defenses to score against (39.7% FG% defense for TXST and 40.6% for UTA). Both teams take care of the ball well too as they are the top 2 teams in the Sun Belt in assist/turnover ratio. One area these teams differ though is how they score. UTA jacks up the 3rd most 3s in the league while TXST puts up the 2nd fewest. One area that's caused struggles for UTA is despite shooting all those 3s they do it very poorly at just 30.7%, 2nd worst in the league. Overall, they shoot just 41.7%, which ranks 10th in the league. Both coaches enforce tough defense, taking care of the ball, and rebounding. Games between TXST and UTA are typically tightly contested.
Last Meeting
Last season was a great one for TXST overall finishing at 24-10. But there were a few tough to swallow blemishes on the overall resume and one was the team's performance against UTA. 2 of TXST's 10 losses last year were to UTA. Including the double OT heartbreaker in front of the largest crowd ever in Strahan Arena. As I said earlier, Brian Warren went off for UTA in that game. Mason Harrell and Marlin Davis likely get tasked with not letting Warren dominate again on Saturday. Azore also had a big game that night with 14 points and a career high 13 rebounds. Pearson led TXST with 15 points and Eric Terry had a double-double with 12 and 10 but it wasn't enough for TXST.
To make matters worse, TXST had a chance for revenge the next month in Arlington but fell again. This time in regulation 81-73. Warren again led UTA with 24 points. Pearson and Harrell both had 13 for TXST while Quentin Scott added 12.
UTA has won 4 straight in the series with the last TXST win coming over 3 years ago in January of 2017. The Bobcats badly need a win Saturday in the series.
Odds/Time/TV
Because I'm posting early odds haven't been released yet. Will update when they are.
Tip-off is set for 4pm from Strahan Arena on Saturday. The AD is doing a decent job of pushing for a big crowd for this game. If you're in the area this should be a fun game to attend.
ESPN+ will have the broadcast as usual.
Riding a 4-game winning streak, including the last 2 on the road, Texas State returns to Strahan Arena for a critical 3-game homestand as it tries to keep up with the leaders in the Sun Belt. Everything starts with rival UTA in a revenge game from last year's 2 heartbreaking losses to the Mavericks, including the game in San Marcos in front of the all-time record crowd.
Conference Standings
1. Little Rock 8-2
2. Georgia State 6-3 (0-0 vs. GS, 0-0 vs. LR, 0-1 vs. A-State, 1-0 vs. TXST, 1-0 vs. USA)
3. Georgia Southern 6-3 (0-0 vs. GSU, 0-1 vs. LR, 0-0 vs. A-State, 1-0 vs. TXST, 0-1 vs. USA)
4. Arkansas State 6-4
5. Texas State 5-4
6. South Alabama 5-5
7. Coastal Carolina 4-5 (1-0 vs. UTA/App)
8. UTA 4-5 (1-1 vs. CCU/App)
9. Appalachian State 4-5 (0-1 vs. CCU/UTA)
10. Troy 4-6
11. ULM 2-7 (0-0 vs. UL, 0-1 vs. LR, 0-2 vs. GSU/GS, 0-1 vs. A-State, 0-1 vs. TXST, 1-0 vs. USA)
12. Louisiana 2-7 (0-0 vs. ULM, 0-1 vs. LR, 0-2 vs. GSU/GS, 0-1 vs. A-State, 0-1 vs. TXST, 0-1 vs. USA)
Things slowly starting to take shape in the conference in a year with a ton of parity. This is a big game Saturday as TXST is only 1 game out of 2nd place right now. Little Rock is a full 2.5 games ahead of TXST right now, so we really can't afford a loss if we want to keep pace with them to have any shot at a conference championship as we reach the halfway point of conference play.
Saturday's Schedule
Appalachian State @ Coastal Carolina - 1pm
UTA @ Texas State - 4pm
Georgia State @ Georgia Southern - 4pm
Arkansas State @ Troy - 4:15pm
Little Rock @ South Alabama - 7pm
ULM @ Louisiana - 7pm
All 6 games airing on ESPN+
NET Ratings (through games 1/23)
105. Georgia State (-7)
118. UTA (+13)
145. Texas State (+4)
146. Little Rock (+23)
156. Georgia Southern (-9)
175. South Alabama (+10)
185. Coastal Carolina (+2)
189. Appalachian State (-6)
198. Arkansas State (+8)
234. Troy (+6)
267. Louisiana (-11)
276. ULM (-21)
This is a matchup of 2 of the top 3 teams in the conference in the NET ratings. UTA played a tough non-conference schedule as they usually do, which bodes well for this rating system. Baylor being #1 and UH cracking the top 25 helping is TXST's rating some too, though some bad losses are holding us back badly (UTSA and Troy at home mostly).
TXST News
- Texas State got its first ever win in the Cajundome on Saturday as they beat Louisiana for the first time ever in Lafayette in 7 tries.
- Texas State has held its opponents under 60 points 8 times this season and is 8-0 in those games.
- Nijal Pearson will be recognized before tip-off for his accomplishment in achieving the status as TXST's all-time leading scorer. Looking beyond just TXST now, Pearson is tied for the 13th highest scorer in Sun Belt Conference history and is the 10th leading career scorer among active D1 players right now.
UTA has been tough to figure out this year and I'm still not sure if they're one of the better teams in the league this year or have taken a huge step back. Despite sitting in just 8th in the conference, if I had to rank teams by odds of winning the league and/or conference tournament I'd probably still have the Mavs top 4 or 5. I know its a team you don't want to take lightly at a minimum, and considering how things went against them last year we'd be foolish to.
UTA is just a game back from TXST at 4-5 right now and sits in a 3-way tie for 7th place. They basically have played the same schedule as TXST (other than they played USA and we played Troy), and the only difference is we beat Coastal while UTA lost to them. Otherwise TXST and UTA have been identical in conference play. Overall, the Mavs are just 8-12 as they went just 4-7 in non-conference play (just 2-7 vs. D1 teams). Their two D1 non-conference wins were at home vs. Tulsa (which is a quality win, Tulsa smoked a ranked Memphis team the other night 80-40) and on the road at Elon. Their losses were on the road at Nevada, #12 Oregon, #2 Gonzaga, #25 Houston and at home to 16-5 Furman, UNT, and UC Santa Barbara. All 7 of those teams have at least 12 wins. They played a really tough non-conference schedule.
UTA went 17-16 overall last year and 12-6 in Sun Belt play, finishing in a 3-way tie for 2nd place (along with TXST). They made it to the Sun Belt Tournament Championship game but fell to Georgia State to finish 1 win away from an NCAA tournament bid. Without an NIT bid they declined any possible CIT/CBI bids. They were picked to finish in 2nd in the SBC Preseason Poll and garnered 2 first place votes.
5'9" Sr. PG Brian Warren was named a preseason all-SBC 1st team selection this year after being named to the 3rd team to end last season. He led the team in scoring (15.9 PPG), assists (3.6 APG), steals (1.2 SPG), and minutes played (29.8 MPG) last year. He also dropped a then-career high 30 on TXST in San Marcos last year while hitting the shots to force OT, double OT, and the game winning FTs in double OT. Mavs fans have been a bit disappointed in Warren's season this year though so far as his scoring has dipped some (13.1 PPG) while his efficiency has left a lot to be desired (38.7% from the field and just 24.7% from 3). He's still running the point adequately as he's 4th in the Sun Belt in assists with 3.7 per game and 3rd in assist/turnover ratio at 1.9.
This year's leading scorer so far has been 6'4" So. G David Azore. Azore was 3rd on the team in scoring last year as a freshman with 8.4 per game. He's upped that significantly to 15.7 per game this year which ranks him 5th in the Sun Belt. He's also top 10 in the Sun Belt in assists (3.6 per game), FG% (47.4%), FT% (82.9%), and assist/turnover ratio (1.5). Azore and Warren carry the scoring load for this team as nobody else averages more than 8 per game. They combine for about 40% of the Mavs total scoring.
One frontcourt player to watch is 6'9" Sr. F Jabari Narcis. Narcis only adds 6.9 PPG (6th on the team) but he's 6th in the Sun Belt in rebounding at 6.8 per game, 4th in defensive rebounds at 5.0 per game, and 4th in blocks with 1.3 per game. He can be disruptive in the paint.
Texas State and UTA are similar in a lot of ways. TXST scores 72.7 per game and UTA scores 71.4 per game. TXST gives up 64.1 per game and UTA gives up 68.6 per game. They are by far and away the top 2 FT shooting teams in the league (76.1% for UTA and 76.0% for TXST) and are similarly tough defenses to score against (39.7% FG% defense for TXST and 40.6% for UTA). Both teams take care of the ball well too as they are the top 2 teams in the Sun Belt in assist/turnover ratio. One area these teams differ though is how they score. UTA jacks up the 3rd most 3s in the league while TXST puts up the 2nd fewest. One area that's caused struggles for UTA is despite shooting all those 3s they do it very poorly at just 30.7%, 2nd worst in the league. Overall, they shoot just 41.7%, which ranks 10th in the league. Both coaches enforce tough defense, taking care of the ball, and rebounding. Games between TXST and UTA are typically tightly contested.
Last Meeting
Last season was a great one for TXST overall finishing at 24-10. But there were a few tough to swallow blemishes on the overall resume and one was the team's performance against UTA. 2 of TXST's 10 losses last year were to UTA. Including the double OT heartbreaker in front of the largest crowd ever in Strahan Arena. As I said earlier, Brian Warren went off for UTA in that game. Mason Harrell and Marlin Davis likely get tasked with not letting Warren dominate again on Saturday. Azore also had a big game that night with 14 points and a career high 13 rebounds. Pearson led TXST with 15 points and Eric Terry had a double-double with 12 and 10 but it wasn't enough for TXST.
To make matters worse, TXST had a chance for revenge the next month in Arlington but fell again. This time in regulation 81-73. Warren again led UTA with 24 points. Pearson and Harrell both had 13 for TXST while Quentin Scott added 12.
UTA has won 4 straight in the series with the last TXST win coming over 3 years ago in January of 2017. The Bobcats badly need a win Saturday in the series.
Odds/Time/TV
Because I'm posting early odds haven't been released yet. Will update when they are.
Tip-off is set for 4pm from Strahan Arena on Saturday. The AD is doing a decent job of pushing for a big crowd for this game. If you're in the area this should be a fun game to attend.
ESPN+ will have the broadcast as usual.
