NASHVILLE, Tenn.- The Texas State men's basketball team could not hold off a late Vanderbilt rally as the Bobcats suffered a 79-60 loss against the Commodores on Sunday night at Memorial Gymnasium.
 
"I thought it was a hard-fought game," said Texas State head coach T.J. Johnson. "Our guys came to fight. I thought we let some opportunities slip away, but I thought there were times we found some stuff that we can develop and grow on."  
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The two teams were tied four times and exchanged leads five times during the first 32 minutes of the contest.
 
Texas State opened the game with a 10-2 lead as Mason Harrell netted the first three points and added a lay-up to lead the Bobcat rally. Then, Caleb Asberry added a three-pointer, and Nighael Ceaser scored two points on a lay-up on an offensive rebound. However, Vanderbilt came back to tie the score at 12-12.
 
After Myles Stute made his second three-pointer to give Vanderbilt its first lead at 15-12, Drue Drinnon came off the bench to score six points with a three-point shot from the wing and a three-point play the old-fashion way with a lay-up and free throw.
 
Vanderbilt opened a 52-39 lead in the first eight minutes of the second half when the Bobcats went to a halfcourt trapping defense. The move helped Texas State make its final rally.
 
The Bobcats scored seven straight points to close to 53-49 with 7:47 left to play on a pair of free throws by Isiah Small.
 
That was as close as Texas State would get as the Commodores outscored the Bobcats 26-11 with Scottie Pippen, Jr. netting 16 of the 26 points.
 
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
Mason Harrell led the Bobcats with 16 points, and Caleb Asberry netted 11 points but played most of the second half in foul trouble. Small finished with five points and six rebounds.
 
A bright spot was that Texas State's bench scored 26 points, grabbed 13 rebounds, and handed out five assists. Drinnon led the Bobcat reserves with 10 points, while Tyrel Morgan netted a season-high seven points, three rebounds, and two assists. Nate Martin scored six points and led the Bobcats with nine rebounds. Davion Coleman added two assists.
 
Pippen scored a game-high 30 points on 10-17 shooting, including 4-8 beyond the three-point arc. He made 6-of-7 free throws. Jordan Wright added 16 points, and Stute netted 12.
 
Next Up
The Bobcats will travel to Northridge, Calif., and play in the CSUN Good Sam Empire Classic on Nov. 19-20. Texas State faces Dixie State in the first round and 1 p.m. on Nov. 29 and either CSUN or Eastern Washington at 2 p.m. or 10 p.m. (CT).