Two-for-two: Texas State earns second Sun Belt regular season title

A year ago, Terrence Johnson wasn’t in the building when his team clinched its first-ever Sun Belt regular season championship.

Texas State’s head coach was locked in his navy blue Jeep Grand Cherokee, isolating himself during a bout with COVID-19. He pulled up outside of Strahan Arena after the Bobcats clinched the title on Feb. 27, 2021. His players swarmed his car, celebrating while separated. It was as close to the real thing as Johnson was allowed to get, given the circumstances.

He got even closer on Wednesday. Texas State took down South Alabama on the road, 55-52, to secure its second consecutive regular season crown. Johnson was on the sideline this time, taking it all in through his own eyes rather than the screen of his phone.

It was a moment he’d been waiting 11 months and 27 days for.

“It was everything that I dreamed it would be,” Johnson said. “You know, I was pretty much speechless. I just wanted to see the looks on those guys' faces, just wanted to be there to hug them and just tell them I love them, just how proud I was of them. So it's a great feeling.”

Wednesday's victory was tough to pull off, though that’s nothing new for the maroon and gold — during the team’s current eight-game winning streak, six of the contests have been decided by single digits. Texas State (20-6, 11-3 Sun Belt) leveraged a major edge on the boards to counteract a below-average shooting night. The Bobcats shot 36% from the field and 42% from the free throw line but scored 14 points off of 18 offensive rebounds.

Senior forward Nighael Ceaser led the way with a double-double, posting 11 points and a career-high 12 rebounds. Fifth-year senior forward Isiah Small added another eight points and nine boards. Senior guard Mason Harrell finished with 11 points, eclipsing 1,000 for his career.

Still, with under two minutes remaining in the game, the two sides found themselves knotted up at 47-47. Junior guard Drue Drinnon knocked down a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer from the right wing to give the visitors the lead at the 1:56 mark, but South Alabama graduate forward Kayo Goncalves matched it with a trey at the other end a minute later. The hosts called timeout immediately after to set up their defense.

“We had drew something up for Drue to use the screen, get downhill and swing it to me,” senior guard Caleb Asberry said. “But then I saw there was still time left.”

Asberry caught the ball with roughly 10 seconds on the shot clock but didn’t like the look he got. He called for Ceaser, who came up to set a pick on Jaguars senior guard Charles Manning Jr. Asberry dribbled left along the arc, though Manning got over Ceaser’s screen and followed him closely.

Asberry picked the ball up and twisted it to his right side, searching for a teammate — perhaps Ceaser — cutting to the rim. No one was there, though. Instead, Asberry chucked the ball toward the rim mid-pass, almost in a shot put-like motion. The ball fell through the bottom of the net for a 3, putting Texas State up 53-50. South Alabama (18-10, 8-7) scored on a putback dunk on the next trip down and played the foul game the remainder of the second half but couldn’t complete the comeback in time, falling 55-52.

Ladies and gentlemen, Caleb Asberry (@calebasberry2) @smdrsports pic.twitter.com/yEA97nrqoO

— Drew King (@drewking0222) February 24, 2022

“It meant a lot,” Asberry said. “You know, we had our backs against the wall again. And it just feels good to give back to everyone who supported us.”

Asberry said it wasn’t lost on him and the team that they were picked third with no first-place votes in the Preseason Sun Belt Coaches Poll back in October. He was happy they proved the league wrong again.

Johnson walked into the locker room trying to hold back his emotions — he doesn’t like his players seeing him get too high or too low. The Bobcats were waiting for him there with everyone, Johnson included, holding water bottles in hand.

He walked to the back of the room, then turned to face his players. They doused the head coach all at once, bouncing with joy and letting out a guttural cheer that only comes accomplishing something important. Johnson emptied his bottle on himself, too.

“I agree with Caleb from the standpoint about feeling blessed, you know, just to have the opportunity to do this and to compete every day and to be around and great young men,” Johnson said. “Certainly, we're super excited and thrilled about the outcome of tonight's game but I'm just proud of our guys because they were able to keep their heads down and take the necessary steps and hold onto the rope.”

THIS FEELING pic.twitter.com/6a2pexSshG

— Texas State MBB (@TXStateMBB) February 24, 2022

With the win, Texas State clinched the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye in the Sun Belt tournament. Per the terms of his contract, by winning the Sun Belt regular season championship, Johnson will also receive a $20,000 bonus.

Texas State isn’t finished yet, with another game left on the schedule before the start of the conference tourney. The Bobcats will face Troy (19-9, 10-5) on the road Friday in the regular season finale at 8 p.m., the game airing on ESPN2.

Johnson hasn’t fully committed to sitting out any players yet, but did say he wanted to take advantage of any opportunities to keep his team rested. Even with Texas State getting nearer to its goal of reaching the NCAA tournament, Johnson doesn’t want the team to lose its focus on the task at hand.

“We'll just get them fed, get them hydrated, rested. And then I'll be up with the assistants working on Troy,” Johnson said. “You know, we've got a game on Saturday against a very good opponent. So we're gonna try to put together a game plan that we're confident in and then try to go through that tomorrow with these guys to compete against Troy. 

“And then we'll start preparing for the conference tournament after our game on Saturday.”