SAN MARCOS, Texas - Texas State looks for its 11th win of the season against Howard Payne at 4 p.m. Dec. 29 in Strahan Arena. The Bobcats enter Saturday's game with a 10-2 record after suffering a three-point loss (73-70) at Arkansas on Dec. 22 in Fayetteville, Ark. Howard Payne enters Saturday's game with a 2-11 record after falling at Lamar on Dec. 21.
The game can be heard in Austin on AM 1300 and FM 89.9 (KTSW) in San Marcos. The game is audio streamed on the Texas State Sports Network on TuneIn.com.
Bill Culhane will describe the action.
GAME INFORMATION – Dec. 29
4 p.m. CST | Strahan Arena, San Marcos, Texas
LISTEN: AM 1300 in Austin;
TuneIn.com, KTSW (89.9 FM) –
Bill Culhane (PxP)
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Live Stats
ABOUT TEXAS STATE
Texas State enters the Howard Payne game ranked No. 21 in the latest CollegeInsider.com Mid Major Top 25 poll. This marks the second straight week that the Bobcats are ranked in the poll after entering the poll for the first time in school history on Dec. 17. Texas State received 143 points from a panel of 31 mid-major coaches around the country. The Bobcats were three points behind No. 20 Kent State and 11 points behind Louisiana for No. 19.
The Bobcats look to improve their record in home games to 5-0 against Howard Payne. Texas State won its first four home games against Air Force, Hardin-Simmons, Rice and Houston Baptist.
SCOUTING HOWARD PAYNE
The Yellow Jackets look to stop a five-game slide after falling at LeTourneau, East Texas Baptist, Louisiana College, Belhaven and Lamar. Howard Payne's last win came on Dec. 1 at UT-Dallas (69-65). The Yellow Jackets have a 1-8 record in road games this season with the win coming at Centenary (73-71) on Nov. 29.
Seniors Shadd Cole and Thomas Bingham lead Howard Payne in scoring with 14.8 and 8.7 points, respectively. Bingham also leads the Yellow Jackets in rebounding with a 6.8 average. Sophomore guard Timothy Aguero is averaging 6.8 points and 3.5 assists per game after being named to the All-Freshman Team in the American Southwest Conference in 2017-18.
SERIES RECORD vs. HOWARD PAYNE
Texas State enters Saturday's game with a 61-32 series record against Howard Payne. The Bobcats have won the last 13 games in the series dating back to Jan. 11, 1982.
Texas State won the last meeting between the two schools, 87-37, on Dec. 20, 2016 in Strahan Arena. The last win for Howard Payne came in 1980-81 when the Yellow Jackets won both Lone Star Conference games between the two schools. The first of the two wins came in Strahan Arena (71-63) after the Bobcats opened the season 10-2.
LAST TIME OUT
Tre'Larenz Nottingham scored 18 points after making a season-high six 3-point shots to lead three players in double figures at Arkansas.
Nijal Pearson netted 16 points and
Jaylen Shead added a career-best 14 points and a game-high five assists. The Bobcats jumped out to a 19-6 lead early in the game, but the Razorbacks answered with a 21-4 run to regain the lead, 27-23. After Arkansas took a 34-27 lead into halftime, Texas State tied the score at 38-38 on Pearson's three-point shot. However, the Razorbacks took control again with a 7-0 run and Texas State was not able to get any closer than three points the rest of the way.
WHAT'S NEXT
Texas State opens its Sun Belt Conference schedule when the Bobcats host Georgia Southern at 7 p.m. January 3 and Georgia State at 4 p.m. January 5.
