Small's big second half leads Texas State to 69-64 win over Chanticleers

Isiah Small was crucial in the second half of Texas State’s game against Coastal Carolina on Saturday.

Though the Bobcats built their lead up to 12 over the Chanticleers at one point in the second half, an 8-0 run by Coastal late in the game trimmed the maroon and gold’s advantage down to two with 2:09 left to play.

Senior guard Mason Harrell sent a bounce pass to Small, who was cutting down the right baseline. Small went up for a layup, but was blocked CCU redshirt sophomore forward Essam Mostafa. Small persisted, though. Senior guard Shelby Adams tipped the miss back up in the air. Small got a hold of it and made an and-1 layup to halt the Chanticleers’ run.

On the maroon and gold’s next possession, Harrell dished in the Small on the right wing, who drilled a 3-pointer to give the team a 67-61 win with just 33 seconds left to play. Texas State hung on to win the game inside Strahan Arena, 69-64.

FINAL @smdrsports #TXST 69#CCU 64@Isiahsmall_11 with the dagger 🗡️ pic.twitter.com/YjdjUcj901

— Drew King (@drewking0222) February 6, 2022

After posting just five points, one rebound and one steal, Small’s big second half gave him 15 points, nine rebounds, two blocks and two steals for the game.

“(It's) something I want to see more of. I'm being completely honest with you,” head coach Terrence Johnson said. “He's a guy that can impact winning on both ends. He's a guy that when he plays with that kind of level of passion, that kind of emotion, we're pretty good. He's a guy that's a mismatch every night. He's a guy that can shoot the ball and score it inside. He's a guy that can handle it, he can pass it. It's something I want to see more of. You know, all of those things, he impacts winning. And when you have a player like that, who's been called a Swiss Army knife, then you want him to be that and you want him to cut.”

“In the first half, I was a little sluggish, I wasn't really trying to run back,” Small said. “But after Coach T.J. got onto us, you know, that just turned my whole mood swing around. It starts on the defensive end and the offense is gonna come whenever it comes.”

Small wasn’t the only player who began the game sluggish. The hosts struggled dealing with Mostafa’s size early on, the forward listed at 6-foot-9 and 250 pounds.The Chanticleers began the game on a 10-0 run, holding Texas State to 0-3 shooting and forcing three turnovers by the first media timeout.

The Bobcats weren’t panicked, though. Johnson didn’t feel the need to burn one of his timeouts — yet. The head coach thought his team was being overly passive. He thought there were three opportunities to score during their opening possession of the game and all three were turned down.

The hosts responded, coming out of the break on an 11-0 run to take a one-point lead.

“We know we gonna go through droughts within the game, you know, missing shots, some turnovers there,” Adams said. “You know you're not gonna be perfect. But we always just rely on our defense. We could make mistakes but make up for it on defense and then we feel like we're gonna be in a good place.”

The two teams went into halftime tied at 29-29. Adams provided a lift at the start of the second half with seven points in the first 3:20, giving the Bobcats enough of a cushion to survive the visitors’ big run late in the game.

Four different Bobcats finished with double-digit points: Small with 15, Adams with 13, Harrell with 12 and senior guard Caleb Asberry with 11. 

After the game, Texas State met with members of the school’s 1993-94 team — the first in program history to reach the NCAA tournament. One of the alumni said he hadn’t been back to San Marcos in 28 years. They spoke play hard and believing in themselves and sticking together as a family, all things that it took to reach the Big Dance.

The current group of Bobcats are still working to get there. They’ll work to get a little bit closer on the road next week, facing Louisiana on Thursday at 7 p.m. and Louisiana-Monroe () on Saturday at 2 p.m.

“They laid the seed down for us. Like, they paved the way,” Small said. “So as we get older we're gonna do the same for other people.”