JONESBORO, Ark. – Despite a historic winter storm that resulted in having no power, no water, and no practice, Texas State overcame all odds and defeated Arkansas State 57-52 Monday night at the First National Bank Arena. Texas State concludes its conference road schedule with a 7-1 record behind seven consecutive wins.
With the win, the Bobcats (16-6, 10-3 Sun Belt) clinched the No. 1 seed in the West Division for the Sun Belt Conference West Division. The Bobcats defense dominated the night as they held the Red Wolves (10-10, 7-6 Sun Belt), the leagues’ best 3-point shooting team 0-of-13 from behind-the-arc. It was the first time since 2011 that Arkansas State did not make a single 3-pointer in a game. Offensively, the Bobcats shot 41.2 percent from the floor (21-of-51), 41.7 percent from 3-point range (5-of-12), and was a perfect 10-of-10 from the free-throw line.
The Bobcats also improve to 10-3 all-time against the Red Wolves and are on a 10-game winning streak head-to-head.
Junior guard Mason Harrell led the team with 17 points (6-of-14) and knocked down three 3-pointers. He also had four assists, four rebounds, and one steal. Senior forward Isiah Small finished with 13 points, six rebounds, and two blocks, while junior guard Caleb Asberry followed with 12 points (5-of-10), five rebounds, and three steals.
Freshman forward Norchad Omier recorded a double-double with 16 points (7-of-15) and 14 rebounds to go along with one block and one steal. Senior guard Marquis Eaton followed his lead with 13 points (4-of-11) and had two rebounds, two blocks, and one assist.
FIRST HALF
Points were hard to come by as A-State led Texas State 8-4 at the under 12-minute media timeout. Small knocked down a triple, and Asberry followed with a pull-up jumper to take a 9-8 lead, but the Red Wolves drove their lead to six at 19-13 behind an 11-4 run. Harrell connected on a triple to jump-start a 7-2 run that tied the game at 21, but the home team scored the final four points to go into the half with a 25-21 lead. Arkansas State, the league’s best 3-point shooting team ended the half shooting 0-of-6 from deep but shot 39.3 percent (11-of-28) from the field compared to the Bobcats’ 33.3 field goal percentage (9-of-27) which included two 3-point field goals. Asberry and Small led TXST with eight points each in what was the Bobcats’ second-lowest scoring first half this season.
SECOND HALF
After a second-chance layup from Harrell to open the half, A-State scored six unanswered points, but the Bobcats responded with a 7-0 run highlighted by Harrell’s 3-pointer to cut the lead down to one, 31-30. The Red Wolves kept their edge and used a 6-2 margin to increase its lead 37-32 with 11:49 on the clock. Out of the timeout, junior forward Alonzo Sule’s strong take and finish ignited an 8-0 run, that was followed by back-to-back 3-pointers from Small and Harrell to give TXST a 40-37 lead. The Bobcats led 44-41 at the timeout with just over seven minutes left to play behind an overall 12-4 run. A-State continued to fight, but the Bobcats kept its edge and went into the final timeout with a 50-47 lead with the clock reading 3:44. Although the Red Wolves tied the game at 50, the Bobcats stopped them on five of their final six possessions and converted on their free-throws to walk away with a 57-52 win.
NOTABLES
• Interim head coach Terrence Johnson picks up his 16th win and he is now tied for the 2nd most wins by a first-year coach of any era in TXST men’s basketball history. He now trails only Dan Wall who had 20 wins in the 1977-78 season.
• Texas States nine road wins this season is one game shy of tying the program’s record for most road wins in a single season.
• The Bobcats are 9-0 overall (6-0 in the Sun Belt) when their opponent shoots less than 40 percent from the floor and 9-0 overall (7-0 in the Sun Belt) when they allow less than 60 points.
• TXST is also 8-2 this season when playing outside of Texas
• Texas State 8-2 overall and 5-1 when they have three players score in double figures.
• Texas State is 3-5 when trailing at the half and 1-2 in Sun Belt games.
• Although a slight margin (3-2) TXST is 6-1 this season when its bench outscores the opponent’s bench.
• The Red Wolves outrebounded the Bobcats (35-33) and outscored the Bobcats in the paint (30-20), and off turnovers (18-13).
UP NEXT
Texas State will conclude the regular season with a pair of home games against ULM on Feb. 26-27 at Strahan Arena in San Marcos.
BOSTON, Mass. – Texas State improves to No. 17 in the CollegeInsider.com (CIT) Men’s Mid-Major Top 25 Poll released Monday evening. It is the Bobcats highest ranking in the poll this season.
The Bobcats (16-6, 10-3 Sun Belt) moved up one spot from last week’s poll, prior to their 57-52 victory at Arkansas State, making them the top seed in the West Division for the upcoming Sun Belt Conference Tournament in March. TXST has been listed in the poll for six consecutive weeks and have achieved a ranking in five of those weeks, including three inside the top 20.
A total of three Sun Belt Conference teams are ranked in the poll beginning with No. 17 Texas State, No. 23 Georgia State, and No. 24 Louisiana.
