SAN MARCOS, Texas -  The Sun Belt's back-to-back regular season champions will make their first ever appearance in the NIT as Texas State is set to face No. 2 seed North Texas in the first round of the tournament on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Denton.

Texas State enters its first postseason tournament in four years with wins in nine of its last 10 games.
 
North Texas, meanwhile, won its conference regular season championship like the Bobcats, going 16-2 in Conference USA.
 
The first-round matchup between former conference rivals can be seen on ESPN+, with David Saltzman and Lance Blanks on the call. The game can also be heard on the Varsity Network, with Clint Shields calling the action.
 
TEXAS STATE IN POSTSEASON TOURNAMENTS
The NIT appearance is Texas State's fifth postseason tournament ticket in their Division I history, including now three in the last six years (three in the last five full seasons). They played in the CIT in both 2017 and 2019 as well as the 1994 and 1997 NCAA Tournaments.
 
Texas State is the first Sun Belt team to make the NIT field since 2018 (Louisiana). The last Sun Belt team to advance past the first round was UT Arlington in 2017 (2nd Round).
 
The Bobcats are 2-4 all-time in postseason tournaments in their Division I history. The last time they advanced past the first round of a tournament was 2017 in the CIT when they reached the quarterfinals.
 
Texas State - NCAA Division I Postseason Tournaments
1994 NCAA Tournament
First Round     L, 60-78      vs. No. 2 UMass
1997 NCAA Tournament
First Round     L, 46-78      vs. No. 1 Minnesota
2017 CIT
First Round     W, 70-60    LAMAR
Second Round                  W, 64-55    IDAHO
Quarterfinals  L, 44-49      SAINT PETER'S
2019 CIT
First Round     L, 81-87      FIU

ALL-TIME SERIES VS. NORTH TEXAS
Texas State and North Texas are former Southland Conference rivals, playing in the same conference from 1988 to 1996. In fact, the first time Texas State made the NCAA Tournament in 1994 it beat the Mean Green 69-60 in the Southland Conference tournament championship game to reach the Dance. The Bobcats beat North Texas three times that season but have only won once in the seven matchups since.

Tuesday will be the 87th all-time matchup between Texas State and North Texas. The Bobcats trail in the series, 28-58.
 
The former Southland Conference rivals have not faced one another since December 19, 2010.
 
Of the 86 matchups in the series, only 22 have taken place over the last 65 years (Texas State trails, 9-13). The first 64 games took place from 1921 to 1956.

PLAYING 21
Texas State's 21 wins help give it its third 20-win season in the last four years.
 
The Bobcats' 84 wins since the 2018-19 season are the most victories over a four-year stretch in program history since 1978-81. Over that span, Texas State won 85 games as a member of the Lone Star Conference.
 
This is also the first time Texas State has posted four straight winning seasons since it do so in seven straight campaigns from 1977-78 to 1983-84.
 
Texas State's 21 wins this year are its most in a season since 2019 when it also won 21 games. The last time the Bobcats had more than 21 wins in a season was 2018 (24).   
 
PLAYING DEFENSE
A team that prides itself on defense, Texas State is among the defensive leaders in the Sun Belt for the season. Entering the NIT, the Bobcats are second among Sun Belt teams in scoring defense (63.1 ppg), trailing App State (62.6 ppg).
 
The Bobcats are 28th in the nation in scoring defense while North Texas is first (55.0 ppg).
 
Texas State is 19-1 this season when allowing 69 points or less in a game. The lone loss was on Jan. 22 at Arkansas State (L, 60-67). The Bobcats have allowed 69 or fewer points in five of their last six games entering the NIT.
 
In the last four games, Texas State has held its opponents to an average of 60.5 points on 41.3 percent shooting (86-of-208). However, opponents are shooting 29.3 percent from beyond the arc (24-of-82).
 
TEXAS STATE AT THE FREE-THROW LINE
To complement consistent defensive play, Texas State also takes care of the free throw line. The Bobcats are shooting 75.9 percent (369-of-486) at the charity stripe, which is best among Sun Belt teams and 35th in the country.
 
Texas State has shot above its current season average at the free throw line in five of the last nine games and above 80 percent in three of the last five.
 
This season, when Texas State shoots above 75 percent at the line, it has a 12-2 record. It has also won seven straight games when it is 75 percent or better at the free throw line.
 
The last time Texas State finished a season with a free throw percentage of 75 percent or higher was 2019-20 (75.6 percent).
 
CONFERENCE LEADING SHOOTERS
The Bobcats lead the Sun Belt Conference in field goal percentage (46.4 percent), three-point field goal percentage (38.0 percent) and free throw percentage (75.9 percent). No Sun Belt program has ever led the league in all three categories in a season before.
 
Texas State has never led the Sun Belt in any of the three categories - field goal, three-point and free throw percentage - for a season.
 
Texas State is top-50 in the country in three-point shooting (15th) and free throw percentage (35th) while it is just outside the top-50 in field goal percentage (52nd).

KEY TO THE OFFENSE
Caleb Asberry, an All-Sun Belt First Team selection this year, is coming off back-to-back double-digit scoring efforts and is averaging 20.5 points per game in the two-game stretch. In the two games prior, he was averaging 8.5 points per game.
 
Asberry had 26 points in the regular season finale on Feb. 25 at Troy, which are the most points scored by a Bobcat in a game this season. He also had 15 points in the Sun Belt Conference Championship loss vs. Louisiana on March 5.
 
The Pflugerville, Texas product has six 20-point games this year and 19 double-digit scoring efforts.
 
Asberry has scored 16 or more points in 11 games this year and Texas State has won all 11.
 
Asberry has also led the team in scoring in nine games this season. The Bobcats are 9-0 in those contests.
 
ASBERRY LEADING THE TEAM IN SCORING

Date	Opponent	Result	Asberry's Points
2/25	at Troy	W, 66-61	26
2/3	App State	W, 68-66	16
1/29	UTA	W, 58-53	15
1/20	at Little Rock	W, 69-59	19
1/15	Louisiana	W, 72-68	22
1/13	ULM	W, 80-56	19
11/20	Eastern Washington	W, 81-74	18
11/19	Dixie State	W, 85-65	24
11/9	UIW	W, 75-57	20

 
400-POINT CLUB
Caleb Asberry has scored a career-high 385 points this season as he is 15 points away from joining the 400-Point Club.
 
A Texas State player has scored 400 or more points in a season 70 times in program history, but only 16 times in the last 20 years. The last to do it was all-time leading scorer Nijal Pearson, who registered 601 points in 2019-20. Pearson finished his career with three straight seasons of 500+ points.
 
 
SMALL PLAYING BIG
Isiah Small has led the team in rebounds in the last two games, averaging 10.5 boards in the stretch.
 
Small has 10+ rebounds in four games this season, with two of them coming in the last two contests.
 
The Jersey City, N.J. product is the team's leading rebounder in total (194) and average (7.2). He also paces the team in offensive rebounds (54).
 
Small is nine rebounds away from tying his career-high of 203 set in his first season with Texas State in 2019-20.