SAN MARCOS, Texas – Texas State rolled past Appalachian State 85-68 Wednesday night at Strahan Arena in front of 6,308 fans, the second-largest crowd in program history. With the victory, the Bobcats advance to the semifinals for a rematch against No. 2 seed South Alabama at 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 14 at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans.

It was another wire-to-wire win at home for the Bobcats (21-11) who matched a program record 15 victories at home in a single season and will end the 2019-20 season on a seven-game winning streak at home. The last time a Bobcat team recorded 15 home wins was in the 1993-94 season where they were a perfect 15-0 in Strahan Coliseum. 

 

The Bobcats are off to New Orleans!! Texas State defeats Appalachian State 85-68 behind a season-high 23 points from @Isiahsmall_11 and 23 points for @NijalUno. #EATEMUP?? #ADVANCE #SunBeltMBB pic.twitter.com/iTwxTtuZvv

— Texas State MBB (@TXStateMBB) March 12, 2020

"I have never felt more confident in a team to win this [conference tournament championship] than this team, this year," said head coach Danny Kaspar. "We have to stay focused on us and in our world. We cannot worry about the NCAA Tournament or the NBA right now. If we focus and stay healthy, we can make a big run."

After leading by 14 points at the half, the Bobcats poured it on in the second half and led the Mountaineers (18-15) by as many as 24 points late in the contest. The Maroon and Gold shot 59.6 percent from the floor and was 13-of-16 from the charity stripe (81.3%). Defensively, they turned the Mountaineers over 18 times and scored 18 points off of those miscues. Although App shot 43.5 percent from the field, they shot just 20.0 percent from 3-point range. 

Junior forward Isiah Small finished with a career-high 23 points (9-of-11) and was one rebound shy of a double-double. He also tallied three assists and two steals. Senior guard Nijal Pearson also tallied 23 points (9-of-15) and knocked down two triples in the game. He also finished with five assists, matched a season-high four steals, and had four rebounds. Pearson now has 601 points this season, making himself the fifth Bobcat all-time to reach the 600-point club and is currently No. 7 with the most points in a single season. The last 600-point scorer was Joel Wright who had 607 points in the 2012-13 season.

Senior forward Eric Terry concluded the game with 12 points, and junior forward Quentin Scott turned in 10 points on a perfect 4-of-4 performance from the field, and 2-of-2 at the free-throw line.

Junior guard Justin Forrest came off the bench and led the Mountaineers with 21 points, and freshman forward Kendall Lewis followed with 13 points, three steals and a block. Senior guard O'Showen Williams rounded out App's top scores with 11 points and added six rebounds, two steals, an assist and a block in the loss.

The Bobcat bigs set the tone early as Terry and Small scored the game's first four points and the offense rolled from there, shooting 90.0 percent from the floor including six consecutive field goals to build a 21-12 lead by the media timeout under 12 minutes. Appalachian State pulled within four points with a layup by Williams at the 7:28 mark, but the home team closed the frame with a 15-5 run to go into halftime with a 40-26 lead. Pearson led all players with 11 points and Terry followed with nine points on 4-of-5 shooting. Small added seven points and five rebounds.

TXST extended its lead quickly in the second half and used an 11-1 run to make the count 59-36. The run was highlighted by an alley-oop from sophomore guard Mason Harrell to Scott. Around the five-minute mark, the Mountaineers put together a 7-0 burst to cut the Bobcat lead to 17, but small ignited another 6-0 run to seal the game with a dunk, and capped the run with a layup, bringing the score to 78-57 with 2:11 left to play.

 

12:00 2H| @MasonHarrell12 ?? @_Quee5 ??Bobcats up 54-35! #EatEmUp?? pic.twitter.com/njz0mhRfrT

— Texas State MBB (@TXStateMBB) March 12, 2020

 
GAME NOTES
• Texas State improves to 7-0 when scoring 80 or more points this season.
• It was the Bobcats fifth time shooting over 50.0 percent this season against a Sun Belt Conference opponent (second time against Appalachian State). The team is 7-1 when shooting 50.0 percent or better.
• TXST out-rebounded App 31-25 and are 16-1 this year when out-rebounding its opponent.
• The Bobcats are 5-0 when four players score in double-figures and 2-0 when Small leads the team in scoring.
• Pearson recorded his 16th game with 20 or more points this season (33rd in his career).
• Pearson passed both Ojai Black (287) and Lawrence Fowler (290) in career assists and now rank No. 6 with 292 dimes. 
• Small logged a season-best nine made field goals.
• Scott logged his first double-digit scoring output since dropping a career-high 13 points at Coastal Carolina on Feb. 6, 2020.
• Junior guard Marlin Davis had a game-high six assists. It is the 11th time this season that Davis has registered five or more assists this season.
 
UP NEXT
Texas State is set for a rematch against No. 2 seed South Alabama at 2 p.m. at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans.
 
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