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The Bobcats’ transition went perfectly.
Senior guard Nijal Pearson began Tuesday evening’s season-opener with a contested baseline jumper from the right side, giving Texas State a 2-0 lead over Texas Lutheran. Junior forward Isaiah Small ripped the ball away from the Bulldogs just after they crossed midcourt and passed it to sophomore guard Mason Harrell. Harrell took three dribbles, then sent a bounce pass back to Pearson, who ended the fast break with a right-hand layup.
Small was making his debut with the maroon and gold. Harrell was making his first career start. All but two players on the team found themselves in a new role to begin this year. Yet it took no time to adjust — Texas State made its first 11 field goals of the game en route to a 103-45 win over the Bulldogs (0-1).
“I thought the guys did a good job doing pretty much what I asked,” head coach Danny Kaspar said. “I asked them to (force) 25 turnovers, they got 22. I asked them to hold (TLU) to less than 50 (points), they did. I asked them to keep (TLU’s) shooting percentages under 35 percent, for the game, they shot 23 percent. And so the one thing we didn't do that I asked them to do was keep their rebounds at 10 or under and they did not do that. So, on the other hand, I guess we shot the ball pretty good.”
The hot streak ended with a missed layup from redshirt junior guard Marlin Davis that rolled all the way around the rim before falling out at the 10:35 mark of the first half. It was Davis’ first official game since returning from a season-ending knee injury on Jan. 6 and sitting out all of last season.
Davis looked solid despite the miss. The point guard finished the night with seven points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals and seemed comfortable planting, cutting and landing.
“My confidence, I really don't worry about my knee at all. I'm 100 percent. I mean, I've been practicing everyday — even last year, I was practicing every day with the team. So it really doesn't give me any trouble,” Davis said. “Just getting my feel back, getting the game day jitters out the way, it was big for me. I've been waiting for a long time, did a lot of rehab. I just couldn't wait to get it all over with.”
The hosts saw five players finish in double digits in Pearson (19), senior center Eric Terry (18), redshirt sophomore center Alonzo Sule (12), Harrell (11) and freshman wing Drew Tennial (11).
The majority of Terry’s points came from the free throw line, where he shot 10-10. Terry, who shot .627 percent from the stripe last year, said it’s an area of his game he’s trying to improve.
“As a big, I'm going to get fouled a lot,” Terry said. “So for me to stand up on the line and make free throws is a pretty big factor.”
Texas State (1-0) will travel to Colorado Springs, Colorado to face Air Force (0-0) on Saturday at 3 p.m. Kaspar is a little worried about the higher altitude affecting the Bobcats’ stamina. But if the team can assimilate its newcomers as smoothly as it did Tuesday, the maroon and gold shouldn’t skip a beat.
“They're a good group of young men, they work hard,” Kaspar said. “I like them, I like their attitude, I like their work ethic. And I was afraid that after beating Cameron (last Friday) by 37, that there would be a letdown (against TLU). But I thought they came out and played pretty hard today.”
