SAN MARCOS, Texas – Mason Harrell scored 21 points and Isiah Small had 19 to lead four Texas State players in double figures as the Bobcats downed Arkansas State 84-67 at Strahan Arena on Thursday.

In front of the program's fourth-largest crowd ever (5,388), the Bobcats (18-6, 9-3) earned their sixth straight win after never trailing in the game and leading for all but 67 seconds of the contest. The win over Arkansas State (15-9, 6-6 Sun Belt) also kept the Bobcats' hold of first place in the Sun Belt standings with three games remaining in the regular season.

While Harrell had a game-high 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting, Small was closely behind by shooting 50% from the field and a perfect 8-of-8 from the free throw line. He also had a team-best six rebounds and a career-high five steals.

Joining Harrell and Small in double figures for the Bobcats were Caleb Asberry (14) and Shelby Adams (13). Asberry chipped in a game-high four assists while Adams was 4-of-9 from the field with five rebounds.

Adams also had three steals, giving him 100 in his career.

Texas State as a team had 13 steals, which were its most in a regular season game since November 2018 (13 vs. Drake).

The offensive output by the four Bobcats helped the team shoot 49% from the field, including 55.2% in the first half. They were also 5-of-12 from three (41.7%) and 29-of-31 from the free throw line (93.5%).

It was the first time this year Texas State shot 40+ percent from the field and three while also going 90+ percent from the free throw line in the same game.

The Bobcats fought off A-State in the early going, leading by three at 14-11 nearly eight minutes in. However, the Texas State defense held the Red Wolves without a field goal for nearly eight minutes midway through the half. The stout defense helped the Bobcats open up a double-digit advantage, extending it to 31-17 at the 5:46 mark.

With the defense working on one side of the court, the Texas State offense made 10 straight field goals on the other side in the first half.

Small had four of the 10 field goals in the stretch, helping him score 15 points in the opening 20 minutes.

After going into halftime up 48-29, Texas State held off A-State from climbing any closer than 13 points in the second half. The Bobcats led by as much as 20 on two occasions and as late as with eight minutes remaining.

The Bobcats will close out their home slate this season with Senior Night on Saturday at 4 p.m. against Little Rock.
 
NOTES
The Bobcats improved to 11-1 at home this season.

In addition to being Texas State's sixth consecutive win, it was also its 17th straight win in the month of February.

The 84 points by Texas State was also its most in a conference game since the last contest of the 2019-20 season.

In addition to the crowd being one of the largest in school history, it was also the biggest student crowd ever recorded for Texas State.