Nottingham Goes for Career-High In Victory Over Red Wolves

Like the first half, both teams came out hot offensively in the second stanza.

JONESBORO, Ark. – Getting his first start in the place of the injured Marlin Davis, junior Tre’Larenz Nottingham scored a career-high 17 points while also finishing with five assists and two steals in the Texas State men’s basketball win 73-67 over Arkansas State in the Convocation Center Thursday night. The Moreno Valley, California native made 6-of-12 from the field and was 3-for-7 from beyond the arc.

 The Bobcats improved to 11-7 on the season, 4-1 in the Sun Belt Conference and have now won four straight. The Red Wolves fall to 6-12 overall and 1-4 in conference play. The four-game winning streak is the longest under head coach Danny Kaspar and first since the 2011-12 season.

“This is a great win for our team. I was especially impressed by Tre Nottingham’s performance filling in at the point guard spot in Marlin Davis’ absence,” said Kaspar. “Nijal Pearson played well with a double-double and Immanuel King did a good job as well. I am very happy for this team. we faced some adversity, went on the road and got a victory on the road against a good opponent.”

Both teams came out hot offensively that saw five lead changes within the first three minutes. A layup by Immanuel King started a 9-2 run for TXST that was capped off when Alex Peacock found Eric Terry wide open for a slam.

A three-pointer by Nijal Pearson from the right wing gave the Bobcats an 18-12 lead with 11:21 left in the opening half. ASU would score six straight to tie the game before a trey from Deris Duncan ended TXST’s scoring drought at 3:06.

The Bobcats extended their lead to five twice the rest of the half with the last time being at 6:09 on a King hook shot. Three times the Red Wolves cut their deficit to one. After the third time on two free throws by Deven Simms, Pearson battled his way through contact to get a layup to fall. It would be the final points of the first 20 minutes as TXST took a 33-30 advantage into halftime.

Like the first half, both teams came out hot offensively in the second stanza. A tip-in basket from Alex Peacock followed by a triple from Blount on the next possession gave the Bobcats a 40-35 lead with 17:28 to play.

 A 9-2 scoring burst from ASU allowed it to take the lead for the first time since early in the first half. Back-to-back layups by Blount and Pearson followed by a short jumper courtesy of Terry allowed TXST to back up by four.

Pearson knocked down his second three-pointer of the game to increase the advantage to six. Following a Red Wolf basket, a Shelby Adams jumper from the free throw line and then a layup by King after a couple of pump fakes made it 56-48 with 8:09 to go.

Back-to-back triples by Nottingham increased the advantage to 64-52, the largest of the game, with 5:17 remaining on the clock. The junior would make a layup that just beat the shot clock to make it a double-digit advantage after four straight Red Wolf points at the 3:30 mark. 

Nottingham’s layup would be the last basket made over the next 3:13 until he found Nedeljko Prijovic with 17 seconds to play. ASU pulled to within three during that time.

A free throw courtesy of Pearson with 10 seconds showing iced the game as the Red Wolves missed a three-pointer and the board was grabbed by Alex Peacock.

Recording his second double-double of the season and fourth of his career was Pearson. The sophomore finished with 13 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Also reaching double-figures was King with 13 points. The senior grabbed six boards, three coming on each ends of the court. His lone block of the game was the 52nd in the Rocky Mount, North Carolina native’s career to tie him for 10th on the career list with Emani Gant.

Blount added eight points with two made three-pointers.

The TXST bench outscored ASU 20-13. Prijovic netted six points on 2-of-3 shooting and made both free throw attempts. Both Adams and Duncan contributed five points apiece and Terry made two field goals for four points.

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=mbball&id=5176