SAN MARCOS, Texas – Tre'Larenz Nottingham and Nijal Pearson combined for 43 points to lead the Texas State men's basketball team to an 80-62 victory over Little Rock in a Sun Belt Conference game at Strahan Arena on Thursday night.
 
The contest was a tale of two halves as Little Rock opened the game shooting 54.5 percent in the first half and led 21-16 before Pearson scored eight straight points to give the Bobcats a three-point advantage.
 
Texas State led 30-25 with 1:36 left in the opening period before Little Rock's Rayjon Tucker nailed a three-point shot to pull the Trojans back to within two. Tucker was also fouled in the final second on another three-point attempt and made all three of his free throws to give Little Rock a 31-30 advantage at halftime.
 
"I was a little concerned that we didn't have a lot of energy in the locker room before the game because this team had been playing very well," said Texas State head coach Danny Kaspar. "I went into the halftime locker room pretty frustrated with them in that we had let a lead get away. I challenged them. They came out in the second half pretty fired up and did a great job."
 
Defensively, Texas State held Tucker to just seven points in the second half and Little Rock shot just 37.5 percent (9-24) from the field. On the offensive end, Nottingham heated up and scored 18 of his 24 points, making all four of his three-point shots and all four of his free throws.
 
Pearson, Eric Terry and Alonzo Sule also combined for 23 more points as the Bobcats outscored the Trojans 50-31 in the second period. Pearson had nine points, while Terry and Sule added seven points each while splitting time at the center position.
 
The victory improves Texas State's record to 15-3 overall and the Bobcats are 4-1 against Sun Belt Conference teams heading into Saturday's contest against Arkansas State that tips off at 4 p.m. in Strahan Arena. The Red Wolves are 8-10 overall this season and 2-3 in Sun Belt Conference play after dropping 68-59 decision at UTA Thursday night.