Bobcats home winning streak snapped by former conference rival UT-Arlington

TXST MEN’S BASKETBALL

Texas State saw their 11-game home winning streak come to an end, falling to the UT-Arlington Mavericks 80-72 in the 81st meeting between the former conference rivals.

The Bobcats and Head Coach Terrence Johnson dropped their overall record to 8-5 as UTA defeated Texas State for the first time since 2022.

“That was a tough one right there, but credit has to go to UTA,” Johnson said. “They did a really good job of establishing a style of play and sticking with it for two halves. We appreciate the crowd, especially the holiday crowd.

“It’s a rivalry game, so we knew it was going to be pretty intense, but we got beat in a lot of different phases of the game today. So we have to figure out ways in which we can work to get better.”

The Bobcats held the lead for the majority of the game, but the Mavericks kept Texas State from extending the deficit to more than double digits on multiple occasions.

Texas State held a 39-27 lead with less than two minutes left in the first half, but a short 5-0 run by the Mavericks cut the lead to 39-32.

Despite the Bobcats maintaining their lead in the majority of the second half, the Mavericks continued to cut into the deficit before making it a one-point game.

Both teams traded baskets back and forth before UTA took their first lead since the early part of the first half at 62-60 with eight minutes remaining in the game.

With the game tied at 62-62 following two made free-throws from forward Nate Deer, UTA went on a 13-3 run to go up 75-65.

The run was too much for the Bobcats to overcome, allowing UTA to win 80-72.

“They took advantage of the way the game was being called,” Johnson said. “After that, they spread us out, they drove us and they forced us to play to protect us properly in space.

“It’s a team that shoots the three ball really well. Although we kept them under their average from that standpoint, they made the necessary adjustment.”

Senior shooting forward Tyrel Morgan led the team in scoring with 22 points followed by senior power forward Tylan Pope with 17.

Following the loss, Pope talked about the need for the Bobcats to both learn and refocus themselves before the team restarts conference play on Thursday.

“The only thing we can do is recollect ourselves, regroup, get in the gym, watch film and figure out what we did wrong,” Pope said. “Figure out what we need to do as individuals and in our individual roles, what we need to get better at and keep moving. That’s just what it is.

“We keep dwelling on this and not moving forward. One loss is going to turn into two losses, and two’s going to turn the three. We have to keep moving forward?

Morgan agreed with his teammate, adding how the team needs to be better at being composed in situations where the team finds themselves trailing.

“I’ll say personally, we just gotta learn from our mistakes,” Morgan said. “It’s a ton of mistakes during this game, along with a lot of adjustments with this game. Sometimes we get overwhelmed, and it’s just times we just gotta work on being more composed while we’re being down.”

Texas State returns to play Thursday on the road against Marshall. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m.

cmcwilliams @sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter: @ColtonBMc