Texas State ends losing streak with win over Arkansas

Texas State snapped a three-game losing streak as the Bobcats held off the Arkansas State Red Wolves for a 66-62 win.

After falling short against Troy where the Bobcats stormed back from a 23-point deficit, senior forward Nighael Ceaser said he was happy for his team as Texas State translated their performance into a victory Thursday night.

“It was a great win carrying over from the Troy game,” Ceaser said. “We were trying to keep that same energy throughout the rest of the season.”

Head coach Terrence Johnson credited Texas State’s win to his players trusting the process and believing in him to help guide them towards success.

“Last Saturday showed that we are capable,” Johnson said. “Some of the guys—it was confidence, for some, it was confirmation and for others it was a shock that we could do that. But for me it was a confirmation that I was doing the right things as far as the buttons I’m pressing and requiring that we play a certain way. When the guys are doing the things we asked them to do, we can be successful.”

The second half was an exciting back and forth between the Bobcats and Red Wolves with neither team gaining a lead larger than 4 points.

With Arkansas State leading at 49-47 with 10:51 left in the game, Texas State responded by going on a 11-0 to not only retake the lead but also have their largest lead of the night at 58-49.

One of the key elements to the run for the Bobcats was the ability to change their defensive schemes to keep the Red Wolf offense in flux. “I thought we mixed up the defenses on them [Arkansas State] pretty good,” Johnson said. “We were getting them to guess out there for a tad bit. For the most part, we had some players who hit some big shots and we had some guys that were playing a little bit harder than what they were playing.”

During the run, the Bobcats were able to focus on just worrying about a single objective—both on offense and defense.

“Pretty much, we had to take it one play at a time,” Morgan said. “Once we were able to build our confidence up, we were able to get some stops and make some big shots.”

Another element Texas State focused on was not allowing Arkansas State in the lane to gain an advantage.

The result was the Bobcats out rebounding the Red Wolves 31-24 with Texas State grabbing 26 defensive rebounds.

“We were letting them into the paint less,” Ceaser said. “Once we did, we were able to come out with the rebound. On the other end, we were able to execute our plays while also playing with each other.”

Once Texas State settled in during the run, it was smooth sailing from there on out as the Bobcats never gave up the lead following the 11-0 streak.

“Our sense of urgency went up,” Johnson said. “We had settled in our rotations and we found a group of guys that we wanted to ride with for the rest of the game.”

Texas State returns to play Saturday against Old Dominion with tipoff running before press release. Ervin was also proud of the senior group of Felicity Calderon, Jade Hernandez, Amiya Moore and Saylor Upshaw for their leadership this year of helping the younger players out and being the role models for the younger generation.

“They are passing the torch,” Ervin said. “They are teaching them how it’s done and what San Marcos basketball is all about. A lot of these girls haven’t played at the varsity level … I’m excited about how they took that role and leadership to give to the next girl in line.”

San Marcos returns to play Saturday against Schertz Clemens inside the Snake Pit. The game began after press time.

cmcwilliams@sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter: @ColtonBMc