SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State men's basketball team (9-1) looks to win its eighth straight game and fourth road game of the season when the Bobcats travel to Edinburg, Texas and play the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (7-4) in a non-conference game at 7 p.m. this Saturday night in the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
 
The game can be heard 103.1 FM in Austin, 89.9 FM in San Marcos and on the Texas State Sports Network on TuneIn.com with Bill Culhane describing the action. Culhane is in his 25th season of calling play-by-play for Texas State men's basketball games. Fans can also watch the game on the WAC Conference Digital Network.

LAST TIME OUT
Texas State used a pair of first half runs and held off a late charge to defeat Houston Baptist 90-80 in Strahan Arena on Dec. 8. The Bobcats used a 9-0 run to take a 15-8 lead and closed the first half with a 16-4 run to take a 40-25 lead at halftime. The Bobcats led by 17 points early in the second half before HBU closed to within 48-45 with 13:52 left to play. But, Nijal Pearson and Tre'Larenz Nottingham added a pair of three-point field goals, and Pearson combined with Alex Peacock to make six free throws to thwart HBU's comeback bid. The Bobcats went on to win the game 90-80.
 
Alonzo Sule recorded his first double-double with career highs of 23 points and 10 rebounds to lead Texas State against HBU. The Bobcats had five players score in double figures against HBU.  The other players were Pearson (14), Peacock (11), Nottingham (10) and Jaylen Shead (10).
 
ABOUT TEXAS STATE
The Bobcats look to win their fourth consecutive road game of the season after falling 75-69 at Drake on November 17. Texas State's first road victory came at Portland (91-68) in the championship game of the Portland Classic. The Bobcats also edged UTSA 69-68 on a last second free throw by Jaylen Shead in San Antonio. TXST also won 61-55 at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Dec. 5.
 
Texas State's 9-1 start is the third-best start in school history and best since 1952-53 when the Bobcats opened that year with a 10-1 record. The best start for the Bobcats came in 1951-52 when Texas State went 29-0 before losing to Missouri State in the semifinals of the NAIA National Tournament.
 
Junior guard Nijal Pearson leads the Bobcats and ranks fourth among Sun Belt Conference scoring leaders with a 20.3 average. Senior guard Tre'Larenz Nottingham is averaging 9.9 points, while Alex Peacock averages 8.9 points and leads the Bobcats in rebounding with 7.2 per game.
 
ABOUT UTRGV
UTRGV enters Saturday night's contest with a 7-4 record for its best start since 2004-05, after defeating North Dakota 70-56 on December 5. The Vaqueros are averaging 9.8 steals per game and rank second in the NCAA with 108 total steals. UTRGV's 21 steals against North Dakota is the third-highest total in program history and most since Jan. 5, 1981 when they set a school record with 24 against Texas Southern.
The Vaqueros also forced 30 turnovers by UND, the school's most since forcing 30 turnovers at Texas State on Dec. 5, 2009.
 
Sophomore guard Javon Levi finished with 15 points, six rebounds, six steals and three assists to lead UTRGV over North Dakota. Levi is one of three Vaqueros scoring in double figures. Forward Lesley Varner II leads the team with 13.8 points per game, Terry Winn III is averaging 10.7 and Levi averages 10.0 points per contest. Levi also leads UTRGV in assists (5.1) and steals (2.4).
 
Varner II leads the team in rebounding with a 6.2 average, while Winn III is averaging 5.3 per game.
 
THE COACHES
Texas State head coach Danny Kaspar is in his sixth season at Texas State and has an 83-89 record at the school. Kaspar ranks among the Top 23 NCAA Division I active head coaches with 548 career victories. His career record is 548-282 in 28 seasons.
 
Lew Hill is in his third season as a head coach at UTRGV and has a 32-42 career record. with a 10-28 career record at Rice. Hill went to UTRGV after spending 12 seasons as an assistant coach under Lon Kruger at UNLV (2004-11) and Oklahoma (2011-16). He also coached at Texas A&M, East Carolina, Southeast Missouri State and South Alabama.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Texas State enters Saturday's game with a 16-22 series record against UT Rio Grande Valley. The Bobcats won the last meeting between the two schools, 75-58, on Nov. 18, 2017 in San Marcos.
 
Texas State has a 4-14 record in games played at Edinburg. The Bobcats dropped a 72-61 decision on Dec. 7, 2016 in the last game played between the two schools in Edinburg. Nijal Pearson led the Bobcats with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Texas State's last win in Edinburg was a 76-63 victory on Nov. 20, 2010.
 
NEXT GAME
Texas State travels to Arkansas on December 22 before hosting Howard Payne on December 29 at Strahan Arena. The Bobcats open their Sun Belt Conference schedule with a pair of home games against Georgia Southern on January 3 and Georgia State on January 5.