SAN MARCOS, Texas – In order to claim its firsts Sun Belt Conference regular season title, the Texas State men's basketball team (23-7, 12-5 Sun Belt) will have to handle its business at UT Arlington (15-15, 11-6 Sun Belt) at 2 p.m. on March 9 at the College Park Center. With so much on the line as it is, this rivalry matchup will conclude the regular season for both squads and help clear up the 2018-19 Sun Belt Conference Tournament seeding.
 
If that is not enough excitement, the last time these teams met was in a classic double overtime game Feb. 2 in front of a record-breaking crowd of 6,581 fans at the Strahan Arena. UTA prevailed 84-77 to increase its margin in the all-time series, 39-32. Brian Warren scored 30 points on 11-of-19 shooting for UTA, followed by Eric Dennis' 14 points, a double-double from David Azore (14 points and 13 rebounds), and Radshad Davis' 12 points. Junior guard Nijal Pearson lead the Bobcats with 15 points, junior guard Jaylen Shead had 13 points, junior forward Eric Terry logged his first double-double on the year with 12 points and 10 rebounds, and senior forward Alex Peacock had a 12-point, and nine rebound performance in the setback.   
 
GAME INFORMATION – UT ARLINGTON
2 p.m. CST | College Park Center
WATCH: ESPN+ - John Nelson (PxP), Robert Gill (Color Analyst)
LISTEN: AM 1300 and TuneIn.com – Bill Culhane (PxP)
FOLLOW: Live Stats
 
ABOUT TEXAS STATE
The Bobcats enter the weekend ranked No. 23 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll, marking the 12th consecutive TXST appearance. Texas State recorded its second consecutive weekend split starting with a 58-44 win at Troy before dropping one at South Alabama, 77-63. Albeit the Bobcats are 3-2 in their last five games, they are 10-4 on the road this season and have won three of the last four games held away from San Marcos. The team also sets the standard in the Sun Belt Conference across a number of statistics including scoring defense (63.7 ppg.), scoring margin (+9.4 ppg.), field goal defensive percentage (40.8), 3-point field goal defense (30.1), and assists per game (15.0).
 
 
Pearson leads the team with 17.2 points per game (No. 9 in the Sun Belt) and shoots 40.1 percent from 3-point range (No. 3 in the Sun Belt). He also averages 5.1 rebounds per game. Pearson will make his 100th career start vs. the Mavericks, making him the program's all-time leader in starts.  He also ranks No. 5 amongst the all-time scoring leaders at Texas State with 1,496 points and ties Brady Richeson (1999-2003) at No. 2 in career made 3-pointers with 172.
 
Senior guard Tre'Larenz Nottingham averages 13.9 points per game on the season (No. 17 in the Sun Belt) and has connected on 78 triples. That mark puts him in a tie at No. 4 in the program's single-season record book with Maxwell Curry (1989-90) in most 3-pointers made in a single season. Josh Naylor (2004-05) ranks No. 3 with 79 made 3-point field goals, and Clay Click (2001-02) is No. 2 at 83 made 3-pointers.
 
Other contributors for TXST consist of Terry's 8.6 points per game, Peacock's 8.5 points and 6.3 rebounds (No. 12 in Sun Belt) per game, and Shead who leads the league with an assists-to-turnover ratio at 2.6, has 4.8 assists per game (tied No. 2 in the Sun Belt), and adds 7.5 points per game.  
 
ABOUT UT ARLINGTON
UTA comes off a road weekend sweep where they downed South Alabama 75-57 and defeated Troy 79-66. Although the Mavericks rank last in the league in scoring offense (69.1 ppg), field goal percentage (40.8), and 3-point field goal percentage (30.6), they have been hot as of late offensively. In the Alabama sweep last weekend UTA shot over 50 percent from both the floor and behind-the-arc in both games and knocked down 10-plus 3-pointers, extending its three-game streak in that category. Their constant this year has been on the defensive end where they rank No. 2 in the league in scoring defense (70.0 ppg) and 3-point field goal defense (30.4) while ranking in the top 10 in steals (6.5, No. 6) and blocks (2.9, No. 7) per game.
 
Junior guard Brian Warren leads the Mavs with 15 points (No. 13 in the Sun Belt) and 3.4 assists (No. 9 in the Sun Belt) per game. Warren shoots 40.2 percent from the field and 80 percent from the free throw line. Edric Dennis follows with 14.6 points per contests (No. 15 in the Sun Belt) and is coming of a 31-point performance at Troy, his second 30-plus point game this season. Andres Ibargren is No. 10 in the Sun Belt averaging 6.9 rebounds per game to go along with his 6.3 points per game.

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