Men's Basketball | 3/24/2017 3:18:00 PM

SAN MARCOS, Texas – A defensive battle appears on tap for Saturday's CollegeInsider.com Tournament Quarterfinal game between the Texas State men's basketball team and Saint Peter's on Saturday at 4 p.m. in Strahan Coliseum. Both teams are ranked in the top 20 in the nation in scoring defense with the Bobcats (63.3) coming in 18th and the Peacocks (61.6) ranked 10th.
 
Texas State enters the contest 22-13 on the season and SPU is 20-13.
 
Live stats, audio and video will be available for the game with Bill Culhane calling the game on AM 1300 The Zone out of Austin and on KTSW 89.9 FM out of San Marcos. The game will also be streamed on Facebook Live through the main Texas State Athletics Page.
 
Last Time Out
Texas State used an 18-6 run in the second half to pull away from Idaho in the second round matchup. With the victory, the Bobcats won back-to-back postseason tournament games for the first time since winning three straight in the 1979 NAIA National Tournament.
 
Nijal Pearson led the team in scoring for the second game in-a-row with 16 points. He finished 5-for-10 from the field and 3-of-6 on three-point attempts. The Beaumont, Texas native also had four assists, four rebounds and two steals.
 
Kavin Gilder-Tilbury netted 14 points to move into sixth and 10 place on the career and single-season scoring lists, respectively. Wednesday's game saw him become the program's all-time leader in three-point attempts as well.
 
Adding 13 points was Ojai Black as he connected of 5-of-7 shots and converted all three of his free throws. With his five assists against the Vandals, the senior moved into 10th place on the single-season list with 139 this year and is two away from surpassing Donald Harvey (1985-86) for ninth.
 
Both Bobby Conley and Immanuel King posted big games against Idaho. Conley scored eight points behind a 5-for-6 performance at the charity stripe and grabbed seven rebounds. King was 3-for-3 from the field on his way to contributing seven points while also pulling down a game-high eight boards.
 
Scouting Saint Peter's
Saint Peter's, a member of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, opened the CIT with a 59-55 victory on the road against Albany in the first round. The Peacocks had one of the top three KenPom ratings entering the tournament and received a bye into the quarterfinals. They have won eight of their last nine games with the lone loss being to Iona in the semifinals of the MAAC Tournament. When playing on the road this season, SPU is 9-7 but were 7-3 against conference opponents.
 
Quadir Welton leads the team in scoring (12.1), rebounding (7.8) and blocks (29). The 6-foot, 8-inch senior has made 47.1 percent of his shots, all from inside the arc, but has converted just 59.7 percent of his free throws.
 
Trevis Wyche is the only other player averaging double-figures at 11.4 points per game. He paces the squad with 3.7 assists per game and 78.3 free throw percentage. The All-MAAC Second Team selection has recorded 49 steals.
 
The MAAC's Defensive Player of the Year, Chazz Patterson has been credited with a team-high 54 steals and is second with 3.6 rebounds per game. Antwon Portley is putting up 7.8 ppg and made 47 three-pointers.
 
Nnamdi Enechionyia contributes 4.6 ppg and is third on the roster with 35 made treys. Coming off the bench, both Cavon Baker (6.3) and Samuel Idowu (6.0) average at least six points a contest.
 
As a team, the Peacocks lead the MAAC in three-point field goal defense (32.6%), turnover margin (+2.4), fewest turnovers per game (10.8) and fewest fouls per game (15.9). They are also second in the conference and 40th in the nation in three-point shooting percentage (38.3).
 
All-Time Series
Saturday will be the first-ever meeting between the programs. It will also be the first time that Texas State has played a school from the state of New Jersey. The Bobcats have won their only two meetings against a current member of the MAAC, defeating Manhattan in 1989 and 1990.
 
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.