SAN MARCOS, Texas – Texas State (12-8, 5-4 Sun Belt) welcomes in-state rival UT Arlington (8-12, 4-5 Sun Belt) in its lone conference game of the week. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 25 at Strahan Arena. An instant classic took place last year when the two teams met in San Marcos with the Mavericks pulling off an 84-77 win in double overtime in front of a record-breaking crowd of 6,581 fans. Senior guard Nijal Pearson will also be recognized before the game on becoming the Bobcats' all-time leading scorer last weekend.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
ESPN + vs. UT Arlington: PXP: Brant Freeman, Analyst: Suzanne Fox
Live Stats vs. UT Arlington: Statbroadcast
Listen: AM 1300 The Zone, TuneIn App, 89.9 KTSW – Bill Culhane
 
SETTING THE SCENE
• The Bobcats are arguably the hottest team in the Sun belt Conference as they ride a four-game winning streak which is the long current streak in the league and matches the longest streak for the Bobcats this year.   
• Texas State continues to stand out defensively by leading the Sun Belt Conference with a 64.1 scoring defense and ranks No. 2 in the league in field goal percentage defense (.397). The Bobcats are 8-0 this season when holding opponents under 60 points and are 8-1 when locking their opponent down to a 36.0 field goal percentage or less.
• Offensively, the Bobcats 72.7 points per game (No. 4 in the Sun Belt), shooing 45.5 percent from the floor (No. 3 in the Sun Belt), 34.1 percent from 3-point range (No. 5 in the Sun Belt), and 76.0 percent from the free-throw line (No. 2 in the Sun Belt).
• Senior guard Nijal Pearson is the league-leader in the Sun Belt with 19.8 points per game behind a 43.9 field goal percentage (No. 7 in the Sun Belt), a 38.6 3-point field goal percentage (No. 5 in the Sun Belt), and a 77.7 free-throw percentage (No. 8 in the Sun Belt). He averages 33.5 minutes per game and his 396 total points this season ranks No. 19 in Division I as of Jan. 23. 
• Sophomore guard Mason Harrell follows with 10.0 points per game, shooting 50.8 percent from the floor. Harrell leads the Sun Belt Conference with a 2.7 assist-to-turnover ratio (No. 22 in the NCAA) and an 87.9 free-throw percentage. Junior guard Marlin Davis sits at No. 2 in the conference with a 2.6 assist-to-turnover ratio.
• Junior forward Isiah Small ranks No. 7 in the Sun Belt with 6.8 rebounds per game, including 4.6 defensive rebounds (No. 7 in the Sun Belt) and 2.2 offensive rebounds per game (No. 8 in the Sun Belt). He also has 0.9 blocks per game (No. 10 in the Sun Belt). Small and averages 8.0 points per game overall, and 9.8 points and 5.9 rebounds per game in addition to eight steals and five blocks in conference games.
• Senior forward Eric Terry is averaging 7.9 points and 4.0 rebounds per game in conference play. He averages 7.4 points per game overall and leads the team with 0.9 blocks per game (No. 9 in the Sun Belt). 
 
PEARSON RECORD TRACKER / NOTABLES 
• Pearson is one of 16 active NCAA Division I players with 1,500 career points and 600 career rebounds (35 total players across all divisions).
• Pearson became the program's all-time leading scorer on Jan. 16 at ULM and now has 1,917 career points that rank No. 18 among active players across all NCAA divisions and No. 10 in Division I. His career points are tied at No. 13 in the Sun Belt Conference record book (Augustine Rubit - South Alabama, 2010-14; Jordon Varnado – Troy, 2015-19).
• The Beaumont, Texas native has 160 career steals that ranks No. 4 in the school's record book behind Donte Mathis who has 161 career steals.
• Pearson is tied at No. 10 on the all-time rebounding list with 671 career rebounds (Brandon Bush – 2005-09, 671). Former Bobcat Don Forester (1957-59) rank No. 9 with 696 career rebounds.
• Pearson was named to the Lou Henson Award Preseason Watch List on Nov. 5. Pearson appeared on the Lou Henson Mid-Season Watch List last year. He was also picked as the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year in a couple of publications including the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook and Street & Smith's.
• Pearson was tabbed to the 2019-20 Preseason All-Sun Belt First Team by the league office after garnering All-Sun Belt First Team honors in the 2018-19 season.
 
SCOUTING UT ARLINGTON
• UTA currently sits in a three-way tie in the league standings with a 4-5 conference record (Coastal Carolina and Appalachian State).
• Overall this season, the Mavericks average 71.4 points and gives up 69.8 points per game to their opponents. Both rank No. 6 in the Sun Belt.
• The team leads the league with a 76.1 free-throw percentage and a 1.3 assist-to-turnover ratio, and ranks No. 2 with 14.8 assists per game. They also defend the three-ball well as they hold opponents to a .309 clip from 3-point range (No. 2 in the Sun Belt), including a league-high .267 percentage in conference games only.
• Sophomore guard David Azore ranks No. 5 in the Sun Belt Conference with 15.7 points per game behind a 47.4 field goal percentage (No. 5 in the Sun Belt) and 82.9 free-throw percentage (No. 4 in the Sun Belt). Azore also ranks in the top 10 of the conference with 3.6 assists (No. 6) and a 1.5 assist-to-turnover ratio (No. 9) in addition to his 5.0 rebounds per game.
• Senior guard Brian Warren chips in 13.1 points on average (No. 17 in the Sun Belt) and leads the team with 3.7 assists per game (No. 4 in the Sun Belt) and 1.9 assist-to-turnover ratio (No. 3 in the Sun Belt). 
• Both Warren and Azore have a team-best 17 total steals.
• Another standout player for the Mavericks is senior forward Jabari Narcis who leads the team with 6.8 rebounds (No. 6 in the Sun Belt) and 1.3 blocks per game (No. 4 in the Sun Belt). Narcis averages 6.9 points per game.
 
SERIES HISTORY
• UT Arlington leads Texas State in the all-time series 39-33 and have won the last four meetings.
• The Mavericks swept the Bobcats last season, including an 84-77 double overtime victory at Strahan Arena which was a record-breaking crowd of 6,581 fans.
• Texas State's last win at home vs. UTA dates back to Jan. 7, 2017 with the final score being 81-73.
 
UP NEXT
Texas State will remain at home next weekend when they play host at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 30 vs. ULM and then end the weekend with a 4:30 p.m. tip-off on Saturday, Feb. 1 vs. Louisiana at Strahan Arena.
 
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