With rivalry's future uncertain, Texas State stamps out UTA, 58-53

If the rivalry is over between Texas State and UT Arlington, it got a proper ending.

If the rivalry is over, college basketball will be robbed of one of the most equally-matched pairs in the country. Eight of the Bobcats and Mavericks’ last 10 meetings were decided by single digits, each side claiming five victories.

If the rivalry is over, the two teams proved again on Saturday why it was a rivalry to begin with — neither team letting the other get comfortable and the game becoming a sometimes-literal shoving match.

If the rivalry is over, it ended exactly how it began, with the maroon and gold coming out on top in San Marcos, just as they did on Dec. 6, 1984.

If the rivalry is over, Texas State slammed the door shut on its adversary with a gritty 58-53 win inside Strahan Arena.

“There's very little that we can control. We played a team that's very talented and well-coached on Thursday and they were better that day,” Bobcats head coach Terrence Johnson said. “I know you're thinking, ‘Well, you just played the same team, does that mean you're better now?’ But we were better today. And a lot of that has to do with our guys and their resilience.”

The Mavericks accepted an invitation to join the Western Athletic Conference on Jan. 21, meaning this weekend’s games might’ve been the last time the two teams played each other as conference opponents. UTA took the first game of the series in Arlington on Thursday, 70-58.

Johnson said he was caught off guard by the amount of zone played by the Mavericks, who looked to mostly be a man-to-man team on film. The coach said it was the most zone the team’s run all season. It caught the players off guard, too.

But being in-state rivals meant Texas State had the chance to make corrections and redeem itself just two days later.

“Thursday we really didn't, you know, adjust right. So we came back Friday, got in the gym and adjusted today,” senior guard Caleb Asberry said. “Basically being more spread out, using more ball screens because they like to down us, and driving more. We didn't drive a lot (Thursday).”

The difference in approach helped free up more open looks from long range for the Bobcats. The hosts took a 22-16 lead through the opening 13 minutes of the first half, with 18 of their points coming from 3-pointers.

Caleb Asberry (@calebasberry2) is heating up early. He gets his defender to bite on a jab step and hits his second 3-pointer of the day to tie the game up at 8-8 @smdrsports pic.twitter.com/H2JzUsNzIu

— Drew King (@drewking0222) January 29, 2022

The team still struggled with finishing inside the arc, though, making just 3-16 on 2-pointers in the first half. It allowed UTA to get back into the game in the final minutes of the period, as a 3 from graduate senior guard David Azore gave the visitors a 29-26 lead heading into halftime.

The maroon and gold didn’t recover right away in the second half. The team’s first five possessions resulted in three misses and two turnovers. Johnson called a 30-second timeout at the 17:12 mark. Senior forward Nighael Ceaser finally scored on a jumpshot from the free throw line afterward, but Texas State gave up another 3-pointer at the other end to go down 37-28 at the under-16-minute media timeout.

“We just had to get stops,” fifth-year senior guard Shelby Adams said. “You know, we feed off of getting stops, like steals, deflections. Anytime you could rebound the ball and just push it up the court, you know, that was the main message … So that's what we did.”

The Bobcats went on an 18-3 run out of the break, with eight of the points coming from Asberry. A layup from senior guard Mason Harrell gave Texas State its biggest lead of the game at 52-41 with 6:59 to play.

The hosts wouldn’t make another field goal for the rest of the game, with their final six points coming from free throws. It could’ve been disastrous for the home team, as the Mavericks began to climb back, eventually bringing the deficit down to one with 22 seconds left to play.

But the Bobcats’ defense held up down the stretch. Texas State picked up UTA full court late in the game, frustrating the visitors and causing a key turnover in the final moments of the game. 

Mavericks redshirt sophomore forward Patrick Mwamba tried inbounding the ball from the baseline to graduate senior guard Javon Levi, but overthrew him and found Azore on the right side of the court instead. Azore took one dribble, then attempted to send a one-handed bounce pass back to Mwamba on the other side of the court. Azore’s pass was too far behind Mwamba, though, and Mwamba dove out of bounds and threw the ball behind him to save the possession.

Bobcats fifth-year senior forward Isiah Small picked off the pass and was immediately fouled by Azore. He knocked down a pair of free throws to clinch the 58-53 win.

Johnson said his team fed off the energy of the Strahan Arena crowd of 3,587 decked out for Blackout Night. It was the largest crowd of the season by more than 2,000 spectators. It was also the largest crowd since the team’s Sun Belt tournament win over Appalachian State on March 22, 2020 — the day before the conference shut down the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The crowd has definitely grown since the first half @smdrsports pic.twitter.com/0kFHYo9JK7

— Drew King (@drewking0222) January 29, 2022

“The energy that the fans and the community put into this place is unmatched,” Johnson said. “We have the best fans and the best atmosphere in the Sun Belt. To be completely honest with you, it's not even close. And this place right here helped carry these guys on to a victory. They felt the love, they felt the appreciation. It's tough to play, you know, more than half of your season and you can't get this until about after finals and after the student population comes back. So hopefully we can keep this energy going and we can play a little bit more games like this — just not as close.”

Asberry led the team with 15 points. Small added eight points to go along with 10 rebounds.

Saturday’s game marked the 134th of Adams’ career, surpassing former guard Nijal Pearson (2016-20) for the program’s all-time record for most played.

“It's a blessing, you know, just to be able to have the opportunity, for one, just to play (NCAA Division I) basketball,” Adams said. “You know, growing up, I had a couple people tell me it's something I wouldn't be able to do. So just now, getting named that I have the most games here, it's a blessing.”

Texas State wants its rivalry with UTA to continue, even if it means scheduling each other in non-conference play. Johnson, Adams and Asberry all said in postgame interviews they hope it keeps going. Johnson said Director of Athletics Don Coryell wants to keep it going, too.

But if the rivalry is over, it was fun while it lasted.

A previous version of this story stated that the rivalry between Texas State and UT Arlington began in Feb. 2005. The story has been updated with the correct information.