Texas State finds rhythm in 51-46 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi

It was probably one of the toughest weeks in the Bobcats’ careers.

On Sunday, Dec. 6, Texas State received word that two players from Incarnate Word, who the team had played a day earlier, tested positive for COVID-19. The Bobcats had to go through multiple tests to gain clearance for their game on Wednesday, Dec. 9. Some players had to get tested twice on the same day.

The testing was done so the maroon and gold could play against one of the hottest teams in the country in No. 13 Texas. Texas State lost, then fell again on Saturday in an embarrassing defeat to Our Lady of the Lake, an NAIA opponent.

All of it took place during the last week of the fall semester, with final exams taking place.

Interim head coach Terrence Johnson said the players needed to bounce back quickly — even before the team hosted Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Tuesday inside Strahan Arena. The Bobcats were able to do so and took the Islanders down, 51-46.

“I saw what I needed to see our guys to believe that they were going to get up and compete,” Johnson said. “We had a pretty vigorous practice. And the guys kind of really got after each other. They competed really, really hard in practice and we felt like that could translate over into the game. And I’m happy that the guys brought that same energy and connection and I think that that was one of the reasons why we were able to be victorious today.”

“In practice ... we were so serious. I mean, I haven’t seen a practice where, in stretch, we didn’t even talk. Like, we were that locked in. So that was pretty much it, was being locked in and being like very connected,” junior guard Caleb Asberry said. “Pretty much, it was like getting back to us. You know, because like, that game (against OLLU), we weren’t us. We weren’t in the lanes, we weren’t playing hard. So that was pretty much what our mindset was.”

Asberry was thrown into the starting lineup after two guards, redshirt senior Marlin Davis and sophomore Drew Tennial, were ruled out of Tuesday’s matchup. Johnson said Davis is currently dealing with a “pretty severe ankle sprain,” and that Tennial has been “nicked up and banged up.”

But Asberry’s presence helped stabilize the hosts. Texas State (4-3) got off to a stagnant start, making just one of its first five shots as TAMUCC (1-6) took an 11-2 lead less than five minutes into the game. Johnson told the team to start pushing the tempo in transition, hoping to free up some of the maroon and gold’s athletes in space, which played to Asberry’s style.

The Pflugerville native got to the rim repeatedly, finishing with a team-high 15 points.

“At halftime, T.J. had seen they really wasn’t guarding handoffs and stuff like that well,” Asberry said. “So he was just telling me, (junior guard Mason Harrell and senior guard Shelby Adams) to really get downhill and create for others.”

The Bobcats stopped the Islanders on 11 of the final 12 possessions of the first half to take a 27-25 lead. The hosts expanded it to 12 points by the 13:55 mark of the second half. But a late 3-pointer by TAMUCC senior guard Nolan Bertain cut Texas State’s edge down to 49-46 with 2:18 still on the clock.

Neither team scored again for nearly two minutes. Harrell hit a midrange jumper over a defender at the shot clock buzzer to put the Bobcats up by five with 22 seconds left and the Islanders missed their last two shots, losing to Texas State, 51-46.

“That was a pretty entertaining game,” Johnson said. “The lesson in it is that, for my guys, is that if you trust the process and you keep on keeping on and you just get up one more time than you lay down, you give yourself a chance. And all we did tonight is we got up and we gave ourselves a chance and we showed up and I’m proud of these guys.”

Harrell finished just behind Asberry with 13 points while adding five rebounds and five assists. Junior forward Nighael Ceasar chipped in another 10 points off the bench. Senior forward Isiah Small plucked a game-high 11 boards.

The Bobcats will finish out its non-conference schedule at the Denver Classic this weekend, taking on Denver (1-3) on Saturday at 2 p.m. and Northern Arizona (0-3) on Monday at 2 p.m. Johnson wants his team to keep up the same energy level as it enters conference play next month.

“I thought last game, it almost felt like a chore, you know?” Johnson said. “And (tonight) I really saw some young men who were excited about playing the game. It’s called a game for a reason, OK. Having fun, it’s expected. It’s OK to be happy.”