Bobcats to host App State, Coastal Carolina; recall Sun Belt tournament exit

Texas State was in dire straits with just 32 seconds on the clock.

The Sun Belt regular season champion Bobcats found themselves down by three scores and on the cusp of getting bounced from the bracket against Appalachian State in the second round of the conference tournament on March 6 in Pensacola, Fla. They hadn’t shot well from anywhere all night long, but especially from the 3-point line. They made just 2-9 shots from outside in the first half and had made 3-8 through the first 19:28 of the second half.

That needed to change. A free throw from Mountaineers senior guard Justin Forrest at the 0:32 mark put App State up 61-53.

“I just knew we needed points in a hurry,” Texas State senior guard Caleb Asberry said.

The maroon and gold hit three consecutive 3-pointers — two from Asberry and another from senior forward Isiah Small. With no timeouts, the Bobcats fouled Forrest with 4.9 seconds remaining, sending him to the free throw line for a pair of bonus shots. Dylan Dawson, a freshman at the time for Texas State, told App State forward R.J. Duhart that if Forrest missed either free throw, the Bobcats were going to score again.

Forrest made the first free throw to give the Mountaineers a 65-62 lead, but missed the second. Asberry collected the rebound, took three dribbles down the right side of the court, then launched a 3 from the right wing with four defenders in front of him.

As the ball was still in the air, Texas State forward Alonzo Sule began tip-toeing off the bench toward the court. Assistant coach Robert Guster leapt out of his seat. Head coach Terrence Johnson lifted his right leg toward the goal.

“I was trying to kick it in,” Johnson said.

The final buzzer sounded and the ball scorched through the net, tying the score and sending the game into overtime. Sule rushed onto the floor, unable to contain himself. Dawson pointed at Duhart, saying “I told you so.”

Asberry turned away, nonchalantly walking the other direction with his entire team chasing after him. He doesn’t remember where he was heading. He doesn’t remember what he was thinking either.

End of regulation: @smdrsports #TXST 65#AppSt 65#TXSTAfterDark tally:
🍻🍻🍻🍻🍻🍻🍻@calebasberry_ ONIONS pic.twitter.com/1I1esfCtuV

— Drew King (@drewking0222) March 7, 2021

It’s a moment that Asberry has hesitated to revisit. He watched the clip once a short time after the game. But he hasn’t looked at it since.

He’s hit buzzer-beaters in high school and junior college before, but none had higher stakes than that one. It’s by far the biggest shot of his career.

But its also the one that haunts him the most. Because after all, the Bobcats ended up losing in overtime, 76-73.

“I felt like if we would have played with that level of energy and excitement early on, we could have had a different outcome,” Johnson said. “I thought that we exhausted a lot of energy trying to make a comeback. It's certainly emotional.”

Johnson said Texas State as a whole hasn’t been waiting for a chance to get back at App State specifically since the stakes wouldn’t be as high — the team is more so hungrier to get back to the same place in the Sun Belt tournament to go even further.

But some players want to show what could’ve been had they executed down the stretch.

“We're really just focused, especially with them being the team that knocked this out,” senior guard Mason Harrell said. “We felt like we had a really, really good shot at winning last year. So we kind of want to prove to the league we're not the same team last year. We're really kind of looking forward to the rematch.”

The Bobcats can’t only be concerned with the Mountaineers, though. They also face Coastal Carolina this weekend — a team they haven’t seen since Feb. 6, 2020.

“Honestly, I feel like it's different because they have a whole new team,” Asberry said. 

Texas State (13-6, 4-3 Sun Belt) is scheduled to host Appalachian State (14-9, 8-2) on Thursday at 5 p.m. and Coastal Carolina (12-9, 4-5) on Saturday at 5 p.m., both games taking place inside Strahan Arena.

Thursday's game between Texas State and Appalachian State was originally scheduled for 7 p.m. Due to inclement weather, the game has been moved up to 5 p.m.