SAN MARCOS, Texas – Texas State (13-9, 6-5 Sun Belt) logged a season-high 47 points in the second half to secure a convincing 71-51 victory over ULM (6-14, 2-9 Sun Belt) Thursday night at Strahan Arena.

After poor shooting in the first half that saw the Warhawks take a 30-24 lead into the locker room, the Bobcats dominated the second half by outscoring it opponent 47-21 behind a 29-9 run by the 6:45 mark of the stanza. ULM's junior guard Michael Ertel who had 14 points in the first half, was shut down by junior guard Shelby Adams and was held to just four points that essentially cut off the ULM offense. Meanwhile, the Bobcats' offense came alive and shot 45.7 percent from the floor (16-of-35) and knocked down five 3-pointers in the final 20 minutes.
  
Sophomore forward Alonzo Sule led the team with 15 points and had a game-high eight rebounds. Sule had a season-best 7-of-8 free throw shooting performance. Adams followed with 12 points for a new season-high and set a new career-high with two made 3-point field goals. Adams also had three rebounds and one assist. Junior forward Isiah Small concluded the game with 10 points (5-of-9) and filled the stat sheet with four rebounds, two assists, two steals, and one block.

Ertel led ULM with 18 points and had four assists and four rebounds, while senior forward Tyree White finished with 15 points, seven rebounds, and one assist. 

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
A lid was on the basket for the Bobcats as they opened the game 0-of-5 from the floor while the Warhawks jumped out to a 7-0 lead on 3-of-5 shooting. ULM's Hodge knocked down a 3-pointer to make the margin 13-4 before a Bobcat 5-0 run capped by a triple by junior guard Shelby Adams made the count 13-9 at the 10:01 mark. The Warhawks extended their lead again, however, behind a 6-0 run to hold the largest lead of the half at 19-9. The home team stuck around and cut the lead down as low as four points with less than a minute remaining, but the Warhawks went into the half down 30-24. Texas State shot 23.1 percent from the floor (6-of-26) and was 1-of-7 from 3-point range. Sule led the Bobcats with nine points and was 5-of-6 from the stripe, while Ertel led all players with 14 points (5-of-8).    
 
Second Half
ULM called for a quick timeout as Texas State cut the lead to 32-30 by scoring on each of its first three possessions. Moments later the Bobcats grabbed its first lead of the night thanks to a slick feed from Pearson to Terry that was a piece of an 11-0 run that put the home team ahead 41-36. After a pair of free-throws from the Warhawks, TXST went on another 7-0 burst with five points coming from Adams to give the home team a 48-38. After five unanswered points for ULM, TXST reeled off eight straight points to bring the lead back to double digits and would keep it that way for a 71-51 final.
 
GAME NOTES
• The Bobcats improve to 9-0 when holding its opponent under 60 points.
• TXST is now 3-3 in conference play when trailing at the half.
• Texas State had a season-low five turnovers.
• The Bobcats are 5-2 overall and 3-0 in conference play when scoring 70-79 points this year.
• Texas State shot 36.1 percent from the floor (22-of-61), 30.0 percent from 3-point range (6-of-20), and 75.0 percent from the free-throw line (21-of-28).
• In the second half, the Bobcats held the Warhawks to 33.3 percent shooting (8-of-24) including 0-of-8 from 3-point range.
• Texas State outrebounded ULM 39-33, including a 15-6 margin on the offensive boards. The Bobcats are 9-1 this season and 3-1 in Sun Belt games when outrebounding their opponent. 
• TXST outscored ULM off of turnovers 12-3, in the paint 24-14, in second-chance points 20-9, in fast break points 7-0, and in bench points 36-6.
• Sule and Adams were responsible for 27 of the 36 bench points.
 
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
• Adams had one made field goal entering tonight's game. He finished 4-of-7
• Sophomore guard Mason Harrell scored nine points in the win and had two assists.
• Senior guard Nijal Pearson finished the game with eight points but had five rebounds, a game-high four assists, and two steals.
• Pearson's streak of scoring 10 or more points in a regular-season game ends at 22 dating back to March 9. 2019 at UT Arlington. The last regular-season game that Pearson scored less than 10 points is when he scored one point at South Alabama on March 2, 2019.
• Senior forward Eric Terry had eight points, seven rebounds, and one assist.
• Junior guard Marlin Davis had seven points, three assists, and three rebounds.
 
QUOTES
Head coach Danny Kaspar's thoughts on the difference between the first and second half…
"That was a tale of two halves. After an ugly first half, I thought that our defense was outstanding in the second half and it really led to more offensive possessions and ultimately more points."
 
Shelby Adams on guarding Michael Ertel…
"Michael Ertel is a good player and it was a really challenging assignment for me, but I am always ready for a challenge defensively. I tried to do the best that I could and in the midst of that the offense started to click for me."
 
Alonzo Sule on tonight's crowd…
"It is really good to have people supporting you when you are playing. We really felt the energy tonight and fed off of it."
 
UP NEXT
Texas State wraps up the weekend with a 4:30 p.m. game on Saturday, Feb. 1 vs. Louisiana at Strahan Arena.
 
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