TXST MEN’S BASKETBALL
Texas State dropped their first conference game of the season, losing to the Arkansas State Red Wolves 89-70.
Texas State falls to 7-6 overall and 0-1 in conference play while Arkansas State improves to 8-4 and 1-0 in conference play.
“In Sun Belt play, you can’t have many possessions where the other team takes off and we took off way too many possessions,” Head Coach Terrence Johnson said. “Credit Arkansas State for responding after their loss to Rice, a game in which they were in control for the majority of it then Rice gave a heck of an effort to come back and walk away with the victory. But those guys were hungry, they were determined, and they did a really good job of establishing themselves on our home floor, something that not many teams have been able to do this season.”
The Bobcats only held the lead twice early in the first half but were unable to hold off Arkansas State’s hot shooting from the three-point line, going 12-22.
With Arkansas State handing Texas State their first home loss of the season, Johnson was ultimately disappointed with how the Bobcats responded.
‘Certainly disappointed in my guys, disappointed in myself and everybody associated with the program,” Johnson said. “We couldn’t better prepare ourselves for a team that’s hungry and that has their mind on responding. We were not prepared for how hard these guys played today, how physical they were, and how connected they were.”
Johnson also highlighted how his team lacked toughness against the Red Wolves.
“We lost to a tougher team,” Johnson said. “It wasn’t really hard to see what the game plan was. They were moving much quicker than us to the ball. They were way more physical than us and more determined to do what they needed to do to win possessions. We got out-rebounded significantly and that’s the most we’ve been outrebounded all season. We lost to a better and tougher team today.”
Texas State will look to get back in the win column against South Alabama. The Jaguars enter the game with a 9-3 overall record, coming off a 96-92 win over the ULM Warhawks.
Tip-off is set for 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Strahan Arena.
