Three days after bullying Texas-San Antonio in front of the largest home crowd in Strahan Coliseum this season, Texas State struggled to find the net against Texas-Arlington. The Bobcats shot 35 percent from the field and 56 percent from the free-throw line in their 82-78 loss Saturday afternoon.
Texas State and the Mavs were tied at 37 at halftime, but the Bobcats were unable to adjust to the slow pace of the game in the second half. It turned into a free-throw shooting contest in the second half as the referees' whistles were more prevalent than dribbling basketballs.
Both teams combined for 33 fouls after halftime and 51 attempted free throws. Texas State went 13-for-24 from the free-throw line, while UTA converted 22 of its 27 attempts.
The Bobcats brought it within 80-78 with 9.2 seconds left, but were forced to foul on the ensuing inbound pass. Mavericks forward Tommy Moffitt knocked down both free throws to ice the game.
Player of the Game: I'd like to give it to Ryan White with his 14-point, 10-assist and 5-rebound performance, but his 3-for-15 outing from the floor makes me reconsider. Cameron Johnson had another double-double (21 points, 11 rebounds), but missed seven free throws. So after perusing the stats once again, UTA senior guard Marquez Haynes earns the prize with his 21-point, 5-assist afternoon.
Trend of the Game: Texas State just couldn't make a basket. The Bobcats missed 42 shots from the field and 20 from the free-throw line.
Quotables
Texas State head coach Doug Davalos on his team's performance: "It came down to who could finish plays. We couldn’t finish enough plays, whether it be from the free-throw line or the and-one opportunities we got or the open looks we got. We couldn’t knock them down."
Davalos on how his team needs to respond: “How do we respond, (expletive), the whole league’s playing like this. You can’t get too high or low on this conference schedule because you’ve got so many games to play and we did a great job to put ourselves in a position where it’s not must-win mode, but it’s disappointing because we had an opportunity to step on a team’s throat and we didn’t do it.”
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