Game Stats in PDF Format

Game Stats

Conway, Ark. - After watching a winter storm dump over seven inches of snow, the Texas State men's basketball team used some torrid three point shooting midway through the first half to take control of the game and never looked back as the Bobcats overwhelmed Central Arkansas 85-61 Wednesday night at the Farris Center.                                    

Bishop, Rios and Ybarra combined for 21 of their points in the first half as the Bobcats opened up a 31-22 lead at intermission.

Bishop scored six of his points in the first seven minutes of the game as the Bobcats opened the game attacking Central Arkansas' full-court pressure by hitting him down the middle of the lane for three straight lay-ups.

After the Bears fell back into a 2-3 zone, the Bobcats worked the ball around the perimeter for four straight three-point field goals by Ybarra, Uriel Segura and Rios. Ybarra hit two of the four treys. His first three-pointer gave Texas State an 11-10 lead.

The Bears answered with a lay-up by Dewan Clayborn before Bishop scored his fourth lay-up of the game and Rios hit Uriel Segura for a three-pointer from the right baseline. On Texas State's next possession Ybarra hit a three-point shot from the left wing before Rios scored seven straight points. First, he hit a trey from the top of the key. After making a jumper, he drove for a lay-up to give the Bobcats a 26-17 lead.

After Imad Quahwash made a three-pointer from the left baseline, White stole a pass and hit Cameron Johnson for  an alley-oop dunk to give Texas State a 29-20 lead. On Texas State's next possession, Travis Jones hit Matt Staff in the middle of lane off an inbounds play and Staff hit a jumper to give the Bobcats their biggest lead in the opening period at 31-20. UCA's Tadre Sheppard closed out the scoring in the first period with a pair of free throws.

In the second half, Texas State picked right up where they left off in the first period as the Bobcats outscored Central Arkansas, 21-7 in the opening seven minutes of the period. John Bowman, Bishop and Rios scored six points each to lead the Bobcats during that stretch. Bowman scored all of his points on three lay-ups, while Bishop added a pair of jumpers in the paint and two free throws. Following Bowman's third lay-up, Rios hit back-to-back three-point field goals to give the Bobcats a commanding 52-29 lead.

Texas State continued the onslaught and extended its lead to 75-48 for its largest lead of the game with 5:24 left to play after Rios added another three-point shot. The two teams battled back and forth the rest of the way as Texas State finished the game outscoring UCA 14-13 in the final five minutes of the contest.  

With the win, Texas State improves its overall record to 11-12 and moved into sole possession of first place in the West Division of the Southland Conference with a 6-3 league record. The Bears fell to 5-18 overall and 1-9 in SLC play.

The Bobcats return home on Saturday to play host to UT Arlington at Strahan Coliseum in a game that tips off at 2:05 p.m.