Texas State mashes Arkansas State to stay hot, 84-67

It’s been more than two years since Texas State lost in the month of February.

On Feb. 8, 2020, the Bobcats were without the program’s all-time leading scorer, former guard Nijal Pearson, and fell to Appalachian State on the road, 60-57. Since then, the team has won 17 in a row in the second month of the year.

That includes Thursday night’s home game against Arkansas State. Texas State dominated the Red Wolves from the opening tip, cruising to an 84-67 victory inside Strahan Arena.

“I think it's a combination of a few things,” head coach Terrence Johnson said. “We play a difficult style of basketball and when we can get our newcomers to buy into it, they get better at it. You know, they're not great defenders when they get here, but they turn out to be pretty good ones by the time they leave. 

“That, and then also, we understand when it's winning time. You know, this program was revitalized on defense. And we understand that at this point in time, there's not many people that are still bought into defending. And this is the time we want to feast on it, so we circle this time on the calendar.”

The win comes just weeks after the maroon and gold were beaten by Arkansas State on the road on Jan. 22, falling 67-60.

Johnson said the chief difference between the two matchups was the 5,388 fans that attended Thursday night’s contest, the fourth-largest crowd in program history.

“We played at home in front of the best crowd in the Sun Belt. It was amazing, you know, the hype behind it. The guys were excited, ready to play,” Johnson said. “Administration and the community and the student body, everybody involved came out. And (the players) didn't need a motivational speech from me today. You know, they knew what it was, they knew what was in front of them. And they knew that these people came out to see them be their best selves.”

A 10-0 run by Texas State (18-6, 9-3 Sun Belt) put the hosts up 24-11 with 7:57 left in the first half. The Red Wolves (15-9, 6-6) cut the lead down to nine by getting to the free throw line on their next two possessions hitting all four foul shots. But junior guard Drue Drinnon made a 3-pointer on the next trip down to put the Bobcats back up 27-15. The team led by double digits for the rest of the game.

Four maroon and gold players finished the night in double figures — senior guard Mason Harrell with 21 points, fifth-year senior forward Isiah Small with 19, senior guard Caleb Asberry with 14 and fifth-year senior guard Shelby Adams with 13.

Texas State also did well in slowing down Arkansas State freshman forward Norchad Omier, a leading candidate for the conference’s Player of the Year Award averaging 17.0 points, 11.8 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game. Omier walloped the Bobcats for 23 points and 13 rebounds in their first meeting, but was held to 14 points and nine boards on Thursday.

“(Our plan was to) try to get him in foul trouble early and just front him and limit the angles on the guards. Because usually, he gets points off dump balls or angles,” Small said. “So it's like, if you angle him right, he's gonna scores automatically. But like, if you front him and he doesn't touch the ball and the guard's not going downhill, then he won't get the ball. So we really just changed our game plan up for him, so that really helped the whole game.”

Texas State plays in its final home game of the season on Saturday when it hosts Little Rock (8-15, 3-8) inside Strahan Arena at 4 p.m. The team will look to keep its momentum going, currently riding a six-game winning streak.

“We don't really look ahead,” Small said. “The next game is the biggest one because it's the next one. So (we're) just taking it one game at a time and preparing.”