Men's Basketball | 1/6/2017 3:07:00 PM
SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State men's basketball team concludes its three-game homestand to start Sun Belt Conference play Saturday afternoon with a 4:30 p.m. game against in-state rival UTA in Strahan Coliseum.
Entering the game, the Bobcats are 8-6 on the season and 1-1 in conference action while the Mavericks are 12-3 overall, 2-0 in the SBC and have won 11 straight.
Last Time Out
Texas State fell short against Coastal Carolina despite an 18-point game from
Kavin Gilder-Tilbury. The senior jumped two spots on the program's career scoring list won to 19th. He has 1,037 career points and is 19 shy of surpassing former teammate
Emani Gant for 18th place.
In his first career start as a Bobcat,
Immanuel King put together a solid 9-point, 6-rebound performance in a career-high 31 minutes.
Bobby Conley and
Marlin Davis both handed out four assists apiece with one combined turnover between the duo.
As a team, Texas State committed a season-low six turnovers. The team committed just two turnovers more than the school record of four. The Bobcats struggled from three-point range against the Chanticleers, going 4-for-24, and were outrebounded by 12.
Scouting UTA
UTA comes into Saturday's game with the sixth longest active winning streak following conference opening victories over Appalachian State and Coastal Carolina last weekend. On the road, the Mavericks are 6-3 with losses to Arkansas, Florida Gulf Coast and Minnesota.
Kevin Hervey paces the team in scoring (14.3) and rebound (7.8). The SBC Preseason Player of the Year is shooting 41.7 percent from the field, 30.4 percent on three-pointers and converted 81.0 percent of his free throw attempts. His six double-doubles rank second in the league and 34th in the nation.
Point guard Erick Neal leads the SBC and is fourth in the country with 7.3 assists per game. He is scoring 9.9 points per game and records 1.9 steals per game.
Jalen Jones comes in netting 12.5 ppg with a 52.1 field goal percentage and 40.0 percentage from long range. The top three-point shooting threat on the team is Drew Charles at 47.3 percent with 35 of his 44 made shots coming from beyond the arc. In last year's SBC Tournament, Charles made a career-high six three-pointers as UTA eliminated Texas State in the quarterfinals.
Down low, Jorge Bilbao enters Saturday averaging 7.3 ppg and 5.4 rpg. He has made 50.7 percent of his shot attempts and 78.3 percent at the charity stripe.
As a team, the Mavericks are scoring 76.9 ppg while allowing 67.4, the second fewest in the Sun Belt Conference. UTA averages 38.5 rpg with a 4.4 rebounding margin. The squad also records 7.1 steals and 2.5 blocks per game.
All-Time Series
The Mavericks lead the all-time series 35-30, won the last three meetings and 11 of the last 12. Texas State's last victory as in the first round of the SBC Tournament on Mar. 12, 2015 by the score of 68-62.
UTA has come away victorious in the last 10 regular season meetings. The Bobcats last defeated the Mavericks in the regular season on Feb. 12, 2011 (79-71) when both programs were members of the Southland Conference.
Live stats, audio and video will be available for the game with Bill Culhane calling the game on 1300 The Zone (1300 AM) or 103.1 FM out of Austin and on KTSW 89.9 FM out of San Marcos. Saturday's contest will also be broadcast in the Austin/San Antonio area on Spectrum Sports (Ch. 323) with Tom Franklin providing the play-by-play and Neal Raphael as the analyst.
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 Twitter at @TxStateMBB, Instagram at @TxStateMBB and like on Facebook at /TexasStateMensBasketball.
