SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State men's basketball team (8-1) returns to Strahan Arena to host Houston Baptist (2-4) in a non-conference game at 4 p.m. Saturday afternoon.
The Bobcats come into the game have won six straight games, including a pair of road games at UTSA (69-68) on Dec. 1 and at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (61-55) on Dec. 5. Texas State is 3-0 in home games this season with wins against Air Force (67-57 Nov. 9), Hardin Simmons (97-52 Nov. 13) and Rice (74-60 Nov. 28).
HBU has dropped a pair of close contests against Conference USA opponents, UTSA (86-82 Nov. 26) and Louisiana Tech (85-78 Dec. 1). The Huskies have played the 15th toughest schedule according to ESPN with their opponents having a combined record of 34-17. HBU's two wins have come against Fordham (75-72 Nov. 10) and at Wake Forest (93-91 in OT Nov. 23).
GAME INFORMATION
4 p.m. | Strahan Arena | San Marcos, Texas
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ABOUT TEXAS STATE
Texas State's 8-1 start is the best start for the Bobcats under Head Coach
Danny Kaspar and the best beginning for TXST since it opened 1960-61 with an 8-1 mark.
The victory at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi was the sixth straight non-conference win for the Bobcats. It marks the first time since 1980-81 that Texas State has won six consecutive non-conference games. The Bobcats opened the season with a 6-0 record before suffering their first loss in the 1980-81 campaign.
Nijal Pearson leads the Bobcats with 21.0 points per game after scoring 16 points at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. It marks the seventh straight game and eighth time overall that he has scored in double figures. Pearson has five 20-point contests. He netted 26 points at UTSA, 25 versus Rice, a career-high 33 points at Portland, 22 against Cal Poly and 21 versus Air Force.
Freshman center
Alonzo Sule led the Bobcats with a career-high 22 points and
Nijal Pearson added 16 points to lead Texas State to the victory. Sule became the third different Bobcat to score 20 points in a game this season.
Senior forward
Alex Peacock leads Texas State in rebounding with an average of 7.3 per game after grabbing nine boards at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
SCOUTING HBU
HBU will be looking for its second road victory of the season and second in the last three games at Texas State. The Huskies are led by sophomore guard Ian Dubose, who is averaging 16.2 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists. He is shooting 48.6 percent from the field and 57.1 behind the three point arc.
Junior guard Jalon Gates also averages 11.0 points per game and is shooting 77.3 percent (17-22) at the free throw line.
Senior center Edward Hardt averages 10.5 points per game, while shooting 52.2 percent (24-46) from the field.
Sophomore guard Oliver Lynch-Daniels also chips in with 8.5 points and leads the Huskies with 4.9 rebounds per game and a .857 (12-14) free throw percentage.
THE SERIES
Texas State will be looking to avenge a 71-52 loss at HBU last season when the Bobcats were out-rebounded 39-28 and HBU shot 54.9 percent from the field. The Bobcats and Huskies enter Saturday's game with a 2-2 series record. Both teams have won two road games heading into Saturday.
NEXT GAME
Following the game against HBU, the Bobcats will play a pair of road games when they travel to UT Rio Grande Valley on Dec. 15 and at Arkansas on Dec. 22.
