SAN MARCOS, Texas – The 2024-25 Texas State men's basketball season begins on Monday when the team hosts Eastern Michigan Monday night in Strahan Arena as part of the MAC-SBC Challenge. Tipoff for the game is slated for 7 p.m.
 
Fans can catch the action on ESPN+ and on the Varsity Sports Network with Bill Culhane on the call. Live stats will also be available to follow.
 
MAC-SBC Challenge History
This is the second year of the MAC-SBC Challenge. Last year saw the Bobcats win both of its games with a road contest at Miami (OH) and then a home game against Ball State. The victory over the Cardinals clinched the challenge on the men's side for the Sun Belt.
 
About Texas State
TXST is coming off a 17-18 campaign that saw the team make a run to the Sun Belt Tournament semifinals for the second straight year as the No. 11 seed. This year's roster consists of seven newcomers with four junior college transfers, two Division I transfers and one Division II transfer while also returning seven players from last season. The Bobcats are one of four teams in the nation without a freshman on the roster along with Coastal Carolina and Nevada.
 
Kaden Gumbs is the top returning scorer from last season at 9.1 points per game. He also paced the squad with 3.5 assists a contest and recorded 29 steals. Both Coleton Benson and Dylan Dawson averaged 8.2 ppg. Returning from injury are Drue Drinnon and Tyrel Morgan. Drinnon missed all of last season while Morgan appeared in two contests that saw him suffer a season-ending injury early in the second half of the game against Miami (OH).
 
About Eastern Michigan
The Eagles went 13-18 last season in Stan Health's third season leading the program. They were 4-11 away from home with two victories in conference play. EMU brought in 11 new players and were picked to finish 10th in the MAC preseason poll.
 
Arne Osojnik is the top scorer back from last season at 8.8 ppg while knocking down 65 three-pointers on 36.5% from beyond the arc. Jalin Billingsley added 7.9 ppg and 5.3 rebounds per game and Yusuf Jihad netted 6.7 ppg on 44.9% shooting.
 
Series History
Monday is the first-ever meeting between the teams.
 
Bobcats vs. the MAC
All-time, Texas State is 3-3 against teams from the Mid-American Conference. The only other victory against a MAC team outside of last season's challenge games was in 2011 over Toledo.
 
TXST vs. Michigan Teams
Eastern Michigan will be the first team from the state of Michigan to play in San Marcos since Rochester College (now Rochester Christian University) played games in 2003 and 2004. In total, Texas State has faced four Michigan-based programs in Central Michigan, Lawrence Tech, Northern Michigan and RCU. The Bobcats are 3-2 in those games with a 2-0 record versus RCU, 1-0 against Lawrence Tech and 0-1 against both Central Michigan and Northern Michigan.
 
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