Davis, King and Pearson Pace Bobcats In Victory At Rice

Next up is the Sun Belt Conference opener at Appalachian State on Dec. 29 at 6:30 p.m. CT.

HOUSTON – Senior Immanuel King and sophomores Marlin Davis and Nijal Pearson combined to score 48 points in the Texas State men’s basketball team’s 74-66 victory at Rice in the Tudor Fieldhouse to conclude non-conference play. Davis netted a career-high 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting in a homecoming to Houston. Pearson scored a game-high 18 and King matched his career best with 15 points. 

The win sees the Bobcats improve to 7-6 on the season while the Owls drop to 3-10.

Davis got the game going with a steal after Rice won the opening tip. Tyler Blount fed King in the low post for a layup and the opening basket of the game.

The Owls would go on a 9-2 run over a 2:31 span that was snapped when Blount knocked down a triple from the right wing. The trey was the first of seven straight points for the Bobcats to take an 11-9 lead.

After a short jumper from King knotted the game at 17-17, Rice scored eight consecutive points to take its largest advantage of the game. The Rocky Mount, North Carolina native converted an old-fashion three-point play to begin an 8-2 run for TXST that pulled the team to within two with 4:15 left in the opening stanza. 

The Owls scored the next three points before Pearson took over offensive for the Bobcats. The sophomore netted TXST’s last eight points of the period. He converted both ends of a 1-and-1 to put the Bobcats in front by two with 26 seconds until halftime. However, Miles Lester hit a floater right before the buzzer to send the game into intermission tied 33-33.

Ako Adams hit a three-pointer on the opening possession for Rice. The Bobcats responded with six straight points that was capped off with Blount pump faking a three-pointer and then hitting a mid-range jumper to make it 39-36.

Pearson converted a free throw attempt that was the first of five straight points for the Bobcats. A mid-range jumper from the right corner by Shelby Adams gave TXST a 49-41 advantage, its largest of the game at that point.

Rice would pull to within four at 53-49 with 9:02 left in the game. A 13-2 run over a 6:18 span from the Bobcats pretty much sealed the game. During the scoring stretch, Davis banked in a three-pointer and hit a short jumper on back-to-back possessions that tied and surpassed his career-high for points in game, respectively.

The Owls knocked down three treys in the final 49 seconds. Unlike the UTSA contest, TXST converted its free throws with a 7-for-8 performance.

Along with his career-high scoring, Davis added two assists, rebounds and steals. Pearson was 4-for-10 from the field with two made three-pointers and converted 8-of-10 attempts at the charity stripe. He also grabbed five rebounds, dished out three assists and recorded a game-high three steals. 

King recorded his second career double-double with 11 boards. He is the first Bobcat to post a double-double in two straight games since Emani Gant on Mar. 5 and 10 against South Alabama and Georgia State, respectively.

Adding eight points was Blount with two made three-pointers. The senior set a new career best with four rebounds and for the second game in-a-row- dished out a career-high tying five assists. 

Tre’Larenz Nottingham helped seal the game with a 5-for-6 performance at the free throw line in the final minutes of the game.

As a team, TXST went 21-for-28 at the charity stripe and shot 24-of-51 (47.1%) from the field. The Bobcats forced the Owls into 17 turnovers with 13 coming in the final 20 minutes, of which seven were the result of a steal.

It was only the second time this season, both coming in the city of Houston, in which TXST lost the battle of the boards with Rice holding a 31-30 battle.

Next up is the Sun Belt Conference opener at Appalachian State on Dec. 29 at 6:30 p.m. CT.

For the latest on Texas State men’s basketball, visit the official website of Texas State athletics at www.txstatebobcats.com, follow the team on Instagram and Twitter at @TxStateMBB and like on Facebook at /TexasStateMensBasketball.

Box Score: http://txstatebobcats.com/boxscore.aspx?path=&id=5231