DENTON, Texas – Texas State men's basketball erased a halftime deficit and led by as much as eight points in the second half, but after a crucial foul call on a three-point attempt with two seconds left in regulation, North Texas eventually came back to beat the Bobcats in overtime, 67-63, in the first round of the NIT at the Super Pit on Tuesday.
In the program's first NIT appearance, the Bobcats (21-8) led by six with less than 40 seconds remaining, but following a slam by Nighael Ceasar, UNT (25-6) hit a quick answer-three from Tylor Perry to spark the comeback.
Ceasar later moved it to 57-55 by hitting the second of his two free throws with 27 seconds remaining, but Texas State fouled Perry on a three-point attempt at the top of the key with 2.5 seconds left to send Perry to the line. However, Perry missed the first of his three free throw attempts before hitting his last two to tie the game.
Mason Harrell had a look to end regulation, but his running attempt down the right side rimmed out.
In overtime, Texas State held a 60-59 lead with 3:30 remaining, but UNT scored five straight points and never let the Bobcats take the advantage again.
Ceasar finished the game with a team-high 14 points, 11 of which were scored in the second half.
Caleb Asberry joined Ceasar in double-figures with 10 points. He also had six rebounds and three assists.
Mardrez McBride led the Mean Green with 24 points on 8-of-18 shooting and 6-of-13 from three-point range.
While Texas State started the game shooting 18.2 percent from the field, it closed out the half hitting eight of its last 13 field goal attempts and three of its last four to make what was once a 10-point deficit a 32-28 disadvantage at half.
The Mean Green, meanwhile, shot 44.8 percent (13-of-29) in the first half, including 46 percent from three (6-of-13). McBride had half of the three-pointers himself, scoring 13 in the half.
The Bobcats wasted little time evening the score in the second half as Harrell hit a jumper to knot it up at 32-32 at the 18:38 mark.
Texas State eventually moved up its lead to seven with 12 minutes to go, but a five-minute scoring drought – which included 0-of-7 shooting from the field – along with a 7-0 UNT run evened the score at 42-42 at 8:13.
The two sides traded leads before a 9-0 run by Texas State, which featured six points from Ceasar and a three from Asberry, made it 52-44 Bobcats with 3:20 left. North Texas eventually closed it out with the help of hitting its last three field goal attempts before the game-tying free throws from Perry.
NOTES
The NIT appearance was the first for both programs.
This was the first overtime game for Texas State since the 2020-21 season finale in the Sun Belt Men's Basketball Championship Quarterfinals.
Despite the loss, Texas State finished with 21 wins in a season for the third time in the last four years. It was also the fourth straight winning season.
