TX State Men’s Basketball Returns Home After Three-Game Road Trip
By: Mariah Medina
Preseason polls slated the Texas State men’s basketball team to finish seventh in the Sun Belt Conference, but after upsetting top-ranked Georgia State in double-overtime, the Bobcats have Sun Belt teams on guard.
Coach Danny Kaspar acknowledges the significance of the win, but he recognizes the wear of a nine-day road trip as the team prepares to take on Arkansas-Little Rock.
“It was a long road trip,” Kaspar said. “Mentally we’re a pretty spent group. This three-game home swing concerns me in that we’re playing three teams that have either played some really good programs close or beaten them.”
Arkansas has a 0-3 record in conference play, but the Trojans have some similarities to the 2013-2014 Bobcats, who lost 10 games by six points or fewer. Five of the eight losses UALR has had this season were by five points or fewer.
The Trojans began their in-conference campaign against Georgia State and Louisiana-Lafayette. Both teams are projected to finish at the top of the SBC this season.
“That probably puts them with the most difficult schedule and us a close second, being three games on the road to start conference play,” Kaspar said. “I’m very concerned about Little Rock. I think they know they have to come in here and win at least one game, if not both, on this road trip. Otherwise they’re going to be deep in a hole.”
By contrast, Texas State has a 2-1 start against conference teams and is currently second in the standings behind Louisiana-Lafayette. Wes Davis, senior guard, said the Bobcats were capable of finishing the road trip 3-0, but their overall record is an accurate depiction of the team’s talent.
“Especially getting two big wins—away games—that’s always hard in conference, so I feel like we have an upper hand in the conference compared to a lot of people,” Davis said. “People that take that same road trip we did, I’m not sure they would come out 2-1. I think we all feel pretty good. Being at the top of the conference in the beginning puts you in a better mindset going into other games.”
Kaspar worries the team will stay in a celebratory mindset with only one day of practice to prepare for Arkansas-Little Rock.
“I think most players and coaches come ready to practice more so after a loss than they do a victory,” Kaspar said.
Overall, Arkansas-Little Rock has an advantage. The Trojans are 5-1 against Texas State and 2-1 at Strahan Coliseum.
Kaspar has re-tooled the Bobcats’ defense after two years with the team. The Bobcats are holding opponents to an average of 55.3 points this season.
Georgia State junior guard R.J. Hunter, the 2013 Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year, and Georgia Southern coach Mark Byington commended Kaspar on his team’s defensive talent. Defense, Kaspar believes, will bring the Bobcats to a 9-5 record on Thursday night.
“If there’s one word I want my team to be described as, it’s ‘tough,’” Kaspar said. “The second word is ‘efficient.’ If you’re tough and efficient, you’re going to be in the thick of things year in and year out.”
Mariah Medina is the assistant sports editor for the University Star where this story originally published. It is reprinted here through a news partnership between the University Star and the San Marcos Corridor News
