Bobcats survive App State comeback for 68-66 victory

Thursday was an unusual night in San Marcos. Temperatures dropped into the low 30s and high 20s. The National Weather Service issued a Winter Storm Warning for the area — again. Strahan Arena had a long trail of dirt leading up to the front door, with barricades placed alongside it to function as handrails in case the path turned slick.

Texas State’s game with Sun Belt-leading Appalachian State was moved up from 7 p.m. to 5 p.m. on short notice to avoid even worse weather conditions later in the evening. The players themselves didn’t find out until around 10 o’clock Thursday morning. A crowd of 1,217 showed up anyway.

And Mountaineers fifth-year senior guard Justin Forrest, a career 72.9% free throw shooter, missed three foul shots in the final seconds of Thursday night’s game, allowing the Bobcats to snap App State’s six-game winning streak, 68-66.

“I guess it's just a typical night in the Sun Belt, you know?” head coach Terrence Johnson said.

Texas State (14-6, 5-3 Sun Belt) rode a hot start by senior guard Caleb Asberry, who torched the visitors for 13 points in the first half. Asberry hit all three for his first shots from distance to help the maroon and gold build a 22-13 lead just over eight minutes into the game.

Fifth-year senior guard Shelby Adams scored the next seven points for the hosts to extend the lead to double digits at 29-18. A pair of free throws from Asberry at the 5:20 mark gave the Bobcats their largest advantage of the night at 35-18.

Caleb Asberry (@calebasberry2)'s feeling a little icy today, you know what I mean? 🥶 @smdrsports pic.twitter.com/nADljCw3FD

— Drew King (@drewking0222) February 3, 2022

“(We were) just playing inside-out,” Adams said. “You know, we thrive off of drive and kicks or throwing it into the post and having cutters and then some of the other guards space out. So just getting wide-open looks, that helped us out.”

Senior guard Mason Harrell didn’t have a huge scoring night, earning eight points in the game, but made his presence felt in other ways like grabbing four rebounds, playing tight defense and dishing out eight assists.

Harrell’s play helped Texas State keep its double-digit cushion for most of the second half.

“I think I just kind of did my best to control the game,” Harrell said. “I was making sure everybody was in the right position and making sure we just got to the things we worked on in practice and everything. So I feel like just going out there leading the team is what I really was trying to do.”

Turnovers kept the Bobcats from pulling too far ahead, though. App State (14-10, 8-3) got into the bonus with just under eight minutes left and earned three consecutive trips to the free throw line, making all six shots. Mountaineers junior forward Donovan Gregory added another two buckets with the team’s next two possessions to give the visitors a 10-0 run and knot the score at 60-60 with 5:39 left to play.

“Good teams, they find ways in which they can hurt,” Johnson said. “They impacted the game through isolation ball — and I'm not saying like on an island, but they look for the matchup.

“And then after that, to be completely honest with you, we got into foul trouble … It kind of got a little chippy on the perimeter where they started calling it a little bit tighter than they did in the first half.”

Texas State sophomore guard Dylan Dawson scored just 15 seconds later to jump back in front and the hosts built their lead back up to 68-63 with 3:36 on the clock. They wouldn’t score again, though, shooting 0-4 from the field, 0-1 from the stripe and committing a turnover down the stretch.

App State split a pair of foul shots, then cut the deficit to two on a layup from Gregory. The Mountaineers got the ball back with 28.8 seconds remaining and took its time to run down some clock. Forrest got the ball on the left wing and rose for a 3-pointer. Asberry was whistled for making contact on Forrest’s right arm on the shot, sending him to the free throw line for a chance to take the lead with 12 seconds left.

Forrest missed his first shot, meaning the best he could do was tie the game. He missed his second, meaning the Bobcats would preserve their lead. He then missed his third, running nearly eight seconds off the clock while Adams grabbed the rebound and was intentionally fouled.

Adams missed the first of his one-and-one, but the Mountaineers couldn’t get a look off in time, falling 68-66.

“Anytime you can get a win like this, it's always big,” Adams said. “You know, (especially) with the weather, all the changes and things like that. Anytime you get a win like this, especially at home, it's always big.”

Asberry finished the night leading the team with 16 points, followed by Adams with 11. Harrell’s eight assists notched a career high for the point guard.

Texas State now turns its attention to Coastal Carolina (12-9, 4-5), which lost to UT Arlington on Thursday. The men’s team is scheduled to play in the second game of a joint doubleheader with the Bobcats’ women’s basketball team at 5 p.m. Johnson said in some ways, he was surprised by the turnout for Thursday's game …

“… but I'm not surprised about the level of dedication that this university and this community has to this program. So I certainly appreciate that.”