SAN MARCOS, Texas – The second half of the Sun Belt Conference schedule is in full effect. Texas State (12-9, 5-5 Sun Belt) concludes its regular-season series vs. ULM (6-13, 2-8 Sun Belt) at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 30 and then take on Louisiana (8-13, 3-7 Sun Belt) at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 1 at Strahan Arena.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
ESPN + vs. ULM / Louisiana: PXP: Brant Freeman, Analyst: Suzanne Fox
Live Stats vs. ULM: Statbroadcast
Live Stats_­ vs. Louisiana: Statbroadcast
Listen: AM 1300 The Zone, TuneIn App, 89.9 KTSW – Bill Culhane
 
SETTING THE SCENE
• The Bobcats look to get back in the win column after suffering a 64-62 setback vs. UT Arlington that ended a four-game winning streak.   
• 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 (.399) and turnover margin (3.5).
• Offensively, Texas State rank in the top five of the Sun Belt Conference in free-throw percentage (75.9, No. 2), scoring margin (8.0, No. 2), field goal percentage (45.4%, No. 3), and scoring offense (72.1 ppg., No. 4). 
• Senior guard Nijal Pearson is the league-leader in the Sun Belt with 20.1 points per game behind a 44.2 field goal percentage (No. 7 in the Sun Belt), a 38.5 3-point field goal percentage (No. 5 in the Sun Belt), and a 79.0 free-throw percentage (No. 9 in the Sun Belt). He averages 33.8 minutes per game and his 422 total points this season ranks No. 17 in Division I as of Jan. 27. 
• Sophomore guard Mason Harrell follows with 9.8 points per game, shooting 49.6 percent from the floor, 40.9 from 3-point range, and 87.9 from the charity stripe. Harrell ranks No. 2 in the league with a 2.4 assist-to-turnover ratio behind junior guard Marlin Davis who leads the league with a 2.7 ratio. Both lead the team and rank No. 10 in the conference with 3.2 assists per game.
• Junior forward Isiah Small is tied at No. 4 in the Sun Belt with 7.1 rebounds per game, including 4.8 defensive rebounds per game (No. 5 in the Sun Belt) and 2.3 offensive boards per game (No. 7). Small also is tied at No. 9 with senior forward Eric Terry with 0.9 blocks per game. Small is coming off his second career double-double with the Bobcats, scoring 11 points and matching a season-high 12 rebounds vs. UTA.
 
PEARSON RECORD TRACKER / NOTABLES 
• Pearson is the program's all-time leading scorer with 1,943 career points. His point total currently ranks No. 19 among active players across all NCAA divisions and rank No. 10 in Division I. He also ranks No. 12 in the Sun Belt Conference all-time in scoring.
• Pearson is one of 18 active NCAA Division I players with 1,500 career points and 600 career rebounds (29 total players across all divisions). He currently ranks third on that list with 1,943 points and 675 rebounds (38 total players across all divisions).
• Pearson is the first Bobcat to be in the top 10 of the school's record book in points, rebounds, assists, and steals.
• The Beaumont, Texas native has 162 career steals that rank No. 3 in the school's record book. He now trails Wes Davis (2011-15) who is No. 2 with 189 steals, and David Sykes (1999-03) who is the program's leader with 192 career steals.
• Pearson ranks No. 10 on the all-time rebounding list with 675 career rebounds. Former Bobcat Don Forester (1957-59) ranks No. 9 with 696 career rebounds.
• Pearson is tied with Donte Mathis at No. 10 in the program's record book with 259 career assists.
• 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 ULM
• ULM has lost six consecutive games losing streak and are winless on the road this season (0-8).
• The Warhawks are coming off an 81-60 loss at Louisiana (Jan. 25). 
• Although ULM is last in the Sun Belt with 63.2 points per game, they shoot 34.4 percent from 3-point range (no. 4 in the Sun Belt) ULM limits its opponents to 67.5 points per game (No. 4 in the Sun Belt) and average 3.3 blocks per game (No. 5 in the Sun Belt).
• Junior guard Michael Ertel leads the team with 15.4 points per game (No. 6 in the Sun Belt) and is the league leader with 37.2 minutes per game. Ertel shoots 40.1 percent from the floor (No. 9 in the Sun Belt) and 36.9 percent from 3-point range (No. 7 in the Sun Belt) to go along with 2.9 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 1.3 steals per game. 
• Senior forward JD Williams follows with 14.1 points on average (No. 12 in the Sun Belt) and leads the team with 5.4 rebounds per game.
 
SCOUTING LOUSIANA
• Louisiana ended its four-game losing streak with the 81-60 win at home vs. ULM. The Rajun' Cajuns enter the weekend 1-7 in road games this season with their lone win coming at Appalachian State on Jan. 6 (81-73). They will face UT Arlington at 7 p.m. Thursday night before playing the Bobcats.
• La. has struggled across the board this year and average 70.7 points (No. 8 in the Sun Belt) shooting 40.7 percent from the field and 32.4 from 3-point range. They also give up a league-worse 74.4 points per game.  
• Junior forward Jalen Johnson leads the team with 15.4 points and 6.7 rebounds per game, ranking No. 7 and No. 8, respectively, in the Sun Belt Conference. Johnson stands out on the offensive glass with 2.3 boards per game (No. 6 in the Sun Belt) and has 4.4 defensive rebounds per game (T-No. 9 in the Sun Belt). He shoots 44.6 percent from the floor (No. 6 in the Sun Belt) and 82.1 percent from the free-throw line (No. 5 in the Sun Belt).
• Junior guard Cedric Russell averages 12.6 points per game behind a 34.4 field goal percentage from behind-the-arc (No. 9 in the Sun Belt). Russell also averages 3.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game. Russell did not play in the 68-59 loss to the Bobcats on Jan. 18.
• Freshman guard Mylik Wilson averages 11.6 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. Wilson is tied at the top of the Sun Belt Conference's leaderboard with 2.4 steals per game in addition to his 49.7 shooting percentage, including a .444 clip from 3-point range.
 
SERIES HISTORY
• ULM leads Texas State in the all-time series 30-24 after the Bobcats squeaked pass the Warhawks 64-63 on Jan. 16. Pearson became the all-time leading scorer for Texas State in that game and finished with a game-high 23 points.
• In the lone meeting last year in was San Marcos where the Bobcats fell 63-60 despite a double-double from Eric Terry (19 pts., 10 reb.).
• Although Louisiana leads the all-time series vs. Texas State 12-3, Texas State has won the last two meetings, including the 68-59 victory this year at Louisiana on Jan. 18. It was the Bobcats first win at Louisiana in program history (1-6).
• Last year, Texas State snapped its five-game winning streak with a 64-62 win at home on Feb. 23, 2019.
 
UP NEXT
The Bobcats will travel to the Carolinas next weekend. At 6 p.m. central time on Thursday, Feb. 6, Texas State will challenge Coastal Carolina at the HTC Center in Conway, S.C. TXST will end the weekend with a 3 p.m. CT tip on Saturday, Feb. 8 vs. Appalachian State at the Holmes Center in Boone, N.C.
 
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