Bobcats win third straight in blowout of LeTourneau, 92-47

It’s not enough for Texas State to just beat an opponent from a lower division.

The Bobcats found that out last season, getting upset at home by Our Lady of the Lake from the NAIA, 61-58, on Dec. 12, 2020. As an NCAA Division I school, Texas State should win when playing to their full potential. But any kind of dropoff allows a window for the other team to take advantage.

So when the maroon and gold hosted LeTourneau, a Division III school, inside Strahan Arena on Wednesday, head coach Terrence Johnson wanted his players to approach it like they were playing Duke. The Bobcats got off to a bit of a sloppy start but got back on track to take a 92-47 win over the Yellow Jackets.

“At the end of the day, you know, anybody can and will get beat,” Johnson said. “And if you disrespect your opponent, you disrespect the game. And that's what I told our guys at halftime. If you're not taking this seriously, you're not taking the game of basketball seriously.”

To ensure the team was still playing at a high level, Johnson and the coaching staff set goals for Texas State to reach. The hosts hit most of them. They had to hold LeTourneau to under 39% shooting. The Yellow Jackets made just 28.1% of their field goals. The Bobcats had to dominate the boards. They finished the night with a 53-32 rebounding advantage.

The one goal Texas State did not achieve was to end the game with a low number of turnovers. And it caused the team a lot of trouble in the opening eight minutes of the first half.

The Bobcats committed seven turnovers and didn’t force any on the other end during the stretch. LeTourneau took its largest lead of the game at 14-10 with 13:11 left to play in the period. The visitors finished the first half scoring 11 points off the hosts’ turnovers.

“At first we were trying to play up-pace, trying to push the ball a little bit too fast,” senior guard Mason Harrell said. “And I think once we slowed down and kind of controlled the game, it kind of got a better flow to it.”

Texas State settled down in the final 12 minutes of the first half, committing just two turnovers and forcing 10. Senior forward Nighael Ceaser provided a spark off the bench, scoring 12 points and grabbing six rebounds, helping the team to a 47-27 lead by halftime.

Ceaser’s 12 points ended up being a team-high for the Bobcats. He went on to secure another four rebounds in the second half to notch a career-high 10 for the game and post his first-ever double-double.

“I was just running the floor and playing hard,” Ceaser said. “I'm not worried about specific stuff, just running.”

“His energy is unbelievable,” Johnson said. “He gives us that toughness approach and he's a hard matchup. So I feel like him in that position is one of the things that was important to us last year. So we try not to complicate things this year and sometimes we have to look at why we were successful last year. Nighael didn't start not one game last year, but he finished about 85% of them. So Nighael's a phenomenal player and he's a mature young man that's willing to do whatever he needs to do to help the team win.”

Johnson let Texas State’s entire roster play in the second half as the lead grew to a comfortable size. All but one player scored in the 92-47 home-opening victory. Three finished in double-digits aside from Ceaser — Harrell and fifth-year senior forward Isiah Small with 11 each and senior guard Caleb Asberry with 10.

The Bobcats (4-2) are now on a three-game winning streak and will look to extend it on the road against Rice on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

“I think we did a really good job sharing the ball tonight and just getting everybody touches,” Harrell said. “But I think we can work, definitely, on the defensive side of things”