Texas State falls to South Alabama

It was another tough loss for Texas State as the Bobcats fell to the South Alabama Jaguars 76-67.

It was a tough defeat for the Bobcats and head coach Terrence Johnson as they came off of a big win against Coastal Carolina last Saturday while giving credit to South Alabama.

“It was a disappointing loss,” Johnson said. “We played against a well-coached team and one of the hottest teams in the Sun Belt. Richie Riley has put his team into position to go deep into the conference tournament.”

One of the major problems for Texas State all this season has been finding consistency and stringing together multiple wins especially at home.

“We felt like we had a little bit of momentum coming off the road,” Johnson said. “But this has been an issue we have had all season coming off the road and keeping our focus and hunger. We played against a team that knew what was at stake and took care of business.”

An issue plaguing the Bobcats over the last four games has been on a defensive end as Texas State has given up at least 70 points including 76 against South Alabama.

With Texas State having another defensive letdown, Johnson didn’t hold back on his team’s inability to slow down the Jaguar offense.

“It’s a lack of toughness and focus,” Johnson said. “We had a lack of commitment to guarding the ball in space and taking care of your responsibilities.”

One of the bright spots in the game for the Bobcats was the scoring ability of sophomore forward Brandon Love.

Coming off the bench, Love had a career high 18 points while going 7-8 from the field and 4-5 from the free throw line.

“It was about confidence,” Love said. “Just getting the ball a lot and playing hard.”

With Love having a career night, Johnson now wants to see his young player start to be consistent.”

“It could have been embarrassing if not he (Love) didn’t have the kind of game tonight,” Johnson said. “You can clearly see the kid is pretty talented. Those are the things that you want to see every single day because the things that he did today are very much capable of moving forward.”

Love along with freshman Jordan Mason and Davion Sykes have been making an impact on the roster that is filled with seniors.

But Johnson wants to see more out of his young players.

“When it comes down to it, they all bring a skill set,” Johnson said. “But right now, they need to figure out what they want to be. What I mean by that is, do you want to be a winner or do you want to be a player. Winning is about an attitude and a daily approach. It’s about consistent everyday habits, the little things that make a difference, not caring who gets the credit, your effort and your intrinsic motivation … those are the things this program was built on.”

For Love, the key to the Bobcats having more consistency is about off the court.

“It all starts with practice,” Love said. “Just playing hard before the games. I think that will help.”

Texas State returns home for the final time this Friday night as the Bobcats square off with Southern Miss. Tip-off is 7:30 p.m. at Strahan Arena in San Marcos.