Men’s Basketball Hits The Road To Face In-State Rival UTA
UTA is 10-2 at home this season with a 5-1 mark in conference play. The lone SBC defeat was to Louisiana on Jan. 18 by a score of 77-65.
SAN MARCOS, Texas – On Saturday afternoon, the Texas State men’s basketball team heads North to face in-state rival UTA at 4:15 p.m. in the College Park Center.
The Bobcats enter the game 14-11 on the season and 7-5 in the Sun Belt Conference while the Mavericks are 15-10 overall and 6-6 in conference action.
Bill Culhane will have the call and Brant Freeman will provide color commentary on the radio with the game being broadcast on 103.1 FM The Zone out of Austin and KTSW 89.9 FM out of San Marcos. Fans can also listen to the game through the TuneIn Radio apps on their mobile device. Live stats will be available for the game with the link on the team’s schedule page.
Saturday’s contest will also be streamed on ESPN3. Announcing the game are Ron Thulin (Play-by-Play) and Robert Gill (Color).
Nijal Pearson is the lone TXST player averaging double-figures in points at 14.2 per game. He paces the team with 42 made three-pointers and 36 steals. Immanuel King is contributing 9.0 points per game on a team-high 59.1 percent shooting and 6.0 rebounds per game.
Netting at least six points a contest is Tyler Blount (6.9), Tre’Larenz Nottingham (6.0) and Alex Peacock (7.3). Blount has connected on a team best 40.9 percent of his three-point attempts with 38 makes this season.
Off the bench, Eric Terry is putting up 5.6 ppg, 2.8 rpg and is second with 17 blocks behind King’s 19. Nedeljko Prijovic is averaging 4.5 ppg and 3.7 rpg while Shelby Adams has played at least 15 minutes in the six of the last nine games with two double-digit scoring efforts.
Through Thursday’s games, the Bobcats are allowing the fifth fewest points per game in the nation at 62.6. The average is the second lowest among mid-major programs behind only New Mexico State (61.3).
Scouting UTA
UTA is 10-2 at home this season with a 5-1 mark in conference play. The lone SBC defeat was to Louisiana on Jan. 18 by a score of 77-65. The Sun Belt preseason favorites enter with an average margin of victory of 13.6 ppg at home with the closest being by seven points last weekend against Coastal Carolina.
Kevin Hervey scoring 20.7 ppg, the second most in the SBC and 30th in the nation. The SBC Preseason Player of the Year also leads the team with 8.8 rpg that ranks second in the conference. He has also made 55 three-pointers, recorded 32 steals and blocked 12 shots.
Erick Neal enters the game leading the league and is seventh in the nation with 7.3 asissts per game and has 55 steals, 16th most in the country. The senior point guard is scoring 14.3 ppg on 39.5 percent shooting, 33.7 percent on three-pointers and a team-high 79.1 percent at the free throw line.
Kaelon Wilson contributes 11.5 ppg with 31 made treys and is grabbing 4.1 rpg. Johnny Hamilton comes in netting 11.2 ppg with a team-high 62.3 field goal percentage. The Virginia Tech graduate transfer is rejecting 2.24 shots per game, the second most in the SBC and 30th in the nation.
Scoring 7.1 ppg and recording 33 steals is Nathan Hawkins. Davion Turner contributes 6.2 ppg while shooting 46.8 percent from beyond the arc, and has seen 29 of his 48 made shots come from long distance.
All-Time vs. Mavericks
UTA leads the all-time series 36-32. Last season, Texas State won two of the three meetings to win the season series for the first time since the 2008-09 campaign. The last contest between the programs saw the Bobcats knock the Mavericks out of the Sun Belt Tournament in the semifinals with a 21-point victory.
When playing in Arlington, TXST is 10-21 all-time. The last time the Bobcats won a true road game against UTA was Jan. 9, 2010 by a score of 64-60.
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.
Live Stats: http://stats.statbroadcast.
ESPN3: http://www.espn.com/watch/_/
Audio: http://txstatebobcats.com/
PledgeIt 3-Point Challenge: https://pledgeit.org/cvc18-
Game Notes: http://txstatebobcats.com/
