Bobcats gear up for Florida International, CIT run

Tre Nottingham knows Florida International senior guard Brian Beard, Jr. well. 

The Texas State senior guard and Beard were childhood friends. They were on the same AAU basketball team in California. The last time they played on the same court was in junior college. 

Now, the duo meets against when the Bobcats and Panthers play in the first round of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament on Saturday. 

“I know exactly how he plays,” Nottingham said. “He’s a very shifty point guard. He knows where to find guys. I feel like FIU was a good fit for him because they do a good job of giving him freedom with the ball and making plays, finding guys in the corner. They’ve got a couple shooters that we’ve got to look out for. We know they want to go up and down. They press the whole game. So, we’ve got to do a good job of controlling the tempo.” 

Texas State (24-9, 12-6 Sun Belt) is looking to shake off a rough March. The Bobcats, who entered the month in sole possession of first place in the Sun Belt, lost their final two regular-season games and fell into a three-way tie for second, knocking them to the No. 4 seed for the conference tournament. 

The Bobcats avenged their loss to South Alabama with a 79-67 win over the Jaguars in the Sun Belt tournament quarterfinals. But Texas State suffered through its worst shooting game of the season and lost to Georgia State in the tournament semifinals. 

“Against Georgia State, we played with more defensive intensity that game,” Nottingham said. “I felt like we were doing our job on defense but we just couldn’t knock down shots. That was our biggest flaw this game. 

“I feel like we’ve got another opportunity to do something that hasn’t been done here in a while at Texas State. So, now we’ve just got to take what we did wrong in the tournament and focus on making shots and focus on playing defense harder. We’ll be fine.” 

But Florida International (19-13, 10-8 Conference USA) presents a tough challenge. The Panthers are the fastest team in the country, according to KenPom’s adjusted tempo statistic. Texas State head coach Danny Kaspar said they’re a good team in transition. When FIU gets into its half-court offense, Beard dribbles throughout the duration of the shot clock. 

Beard leads the team with 17.3 points and adds 3.3 rebounds per game. Redshirt junior forward Devon Andrews is the second-leading scorer with 14.9 points per game and tallies 5.1 rebounds per contest. Junior guard Trejon Jacob is the final Panther averaging double digits per game at 10.5.

Texas State, however, has played well against teams that like to push the pace. The Bobcats went 9-2 against the top six teams in the Sun Belt in KenPom’s adjusted tempo. Kaspar said Texas State’s success against high-tempo opponents comes from good defense.

“I think we manage the game and we defend,” Kaspar said. “As a coach, I try to manage the game where there’s not as many possessions for them. But I think the main thing is we’ve been pretty good defensively.” 

FIU presses throughout the game on defense. Kaspar called their defensive scheme similar to what the Bobcats saw against Arkansas earlier in the season. 

Texas State hosts the Panthers on Saturday at 6 p.m. inside Strahan Arena. It’s another opportunity for the Bobcats’ seniors to play in San Marcos. 

“It’s definitely nice, especially for me, I didn’t get to play the last home game. I was sick,” Peacock said. “So, I mean, being able to come and give the fans once last go around, it’s fun for me.”

The Bobcats can match the most wins in program history since the 1993-94 season against FIU. Texas State wants to show out against the Panthers. 

“I’m still in my feelings about not getting a conference championship, not getting to the (NCAA) tournament,” Nottingham said. “I want to make the Texas State Bobcat fans proud and all that. So, hopefully, I can go out with a bang one more time in the CIT.”