SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State men's basketball team won its first game of the 2017-18 season Saturday afternoon after defeating UT Rio Grande Valley 75-58 in Strahan Coliseum. Four Bobcats reached double-figures led by Nijal Pearson's double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds. Both Immanuel King and Nedeljko Prijovic scored 13 points apiece and Eric Terry added 10 points off the bench.

With the victory, TXST is now 1-2 on the season while the Vaqueros drop to 2-2. It was also the 60th win for Danny Kaspar as the head coach of the Bobcats to tie him for eighth on the school's career list with Joe B. Cheaney (1935-39, 43).

Prijovic scored the first two baskets of the game while the defense held UTRGV scoreless for the first 6:34 of the game. The fastbreak layup from Jordan Jackson cut the Bobcats' lead to 4-2. That would be as close as the visitors would get as TXST scored the next seven points, capped off by a three-pointer from Pearson.

The largest lead of the first half for the Bobcats came with 27 seconds left on the clock. Tre'Larenz Nottingham knocked down his lone made three-pointer of the game to put the team ahead 34-21. The Vaqueros answered back with a triple of their own the next time down the court to close out the scoring for the period.



After UTRGV's Nick Dixon scored the first points of the second half on a jumper in the paint, TXST went on a 7-0 run. Tyler Blount made his only three-pointer of the contest during the stretch and Prijovic capped it off with an old-fashion three-point play.

Nick Hoffman converted a three-pointer with 16:44 remaining in the game to cut the Bobcats' advantage to nine. A slam by King the following trip down the court gave TXST a double-digit lead that the team would maintain for the rest of the game.

The largest lead for the Bobcats in the game was 19 at 75-56. It came with 1:38 left on the clock when Pearson found King for a layup.

Both King and Prijovic almost joined Pearson in having a double-double. Prijovic grabbed nine rebounds and King retrieved eight. The senior also blocked the lone shot in the game for TXST.

Coming off the bench, Alex Peacock added eight points behind a 6-for-6 performance at the free throw line. Nottingham dished out a team-high three assists.

Finishing with a team best two steals were Marlin Davis and Pearson.

Overall, the Bobcats shot 25-for-55 (45.5%) from the field and converted 22-of-30 (73.3%) free throw line. They also outrebounded UTRGV 40-27 with a 14-8 advantage on the offensive glass. The offensive boards for TXST led to 22 second chance points while the Vaqueros totaled eight second chance points.

Next up for the Bobcats is a trip to California next week for three games to conclude the Men Against Breast Cancer Showcase. First up is a meeting with Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Wednesday at 9 p.m. CT. All three contests will be played on the campus of the University of the Pacific inside the Alex G. Spanos Center.

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.