HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Down two starters due to injury, Texas State battled on the road but came up short to Southern Miss on Saturday afternoon 78-74 in the Reed Green Coliseum.
 
"A hard-fought game today. I thought we gave a better effort than we did Thursday night, but to win on the road you have to defend and execute, two things that we obviously struggled with today.," said head coach Terrence Johnson. "We'll go home, regroup and see if this week we can address the little things that made such a big difference before Thursday night."
 
With the result, the Bobcats fall to 11-16 overall and 4-10 in the Sun Belt Conference while the Golden Eagles are now 15-12 on the season and 8-6 in league play.
 
Jordan Mason had an 18-point performance as he went 8-for-20 from the field. He also grabbed three rebounds, handed out two assists and recorded two steals.
 
Making his first start in a Texas State uniform, Coleton Benson scored a 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting and was 3-for-6 on three-point attempts. The sophomore added a career-high three steals and dished out two assists.
 
Both Brandon Love and Chris Nix scored 10 points apiece. Nix made all five of his field goal attempts and grabbed six boards with two being on the offensive end. Just missing a double-double was Davion Sykes with nine points and nine rebounds.
 
With USM leading 15-7 at the 14:34 mark, Benson hit a three-pointer from the Golden Eagle logo to start a 12-4 run for TXST that tied the game. Austin Crowley made two free throws to put the hosts back in the lead, but it was short lived. Love converted an old-fashioned three-point play for the first of seven consecutive points for the Bobcats that put them in front.
 
Texas State stretched their advantage to as much as eight when Dontae Horne made 1-of-2 charity stripe attempts with 3:51 left in the opening half. Mason made a layup with 18 seconds left for the final points of the period to send the Bobcats into halftime leading 38-33.
 
In the first 20 minutes, TXST shot 53.6% (15-of-28) with a 13-for-18 performance over the final 13 minutes. The Bobcats also forced 10 turnovers, seven being the result of a steal, while only turning it over thrice.
 
The second half saw USM fight back and tie the game until Benson hit another trey from the logo. Mason would convert a driving left-handed layup to put Texas State back ahead by five three minutes into the period.
 
A 7-0 run in a 70-second span put the Golden Eagles back in front with less than 15:30 to go. A layup by Benson off a feed from Nix tied the contest and Nix put TXST up 51-49 as he backed down and nailed a hook shot with 14:24 on the clock.
 
USM followed with eight of the next 10 points with four apiece being scored by Jose Benitez and Andre Curbelo to give it a 57-52 lead. A layup by Joshua O'Garro on the break cut TXST's deficit to one with 11:29 left in the game.
 
Both Benson and Love picked up their fourth fouls around the mid-point of the half with the ensuing free throws aiding on the Eagles scoring seven straight points as they matched their largest lead of the game at eight. Despite the foul trouble, the Bobcats hung in there to keep it within three at 72-69 following a bucket from Nix.
 
Missed USM free throws allowed TXST to stay in striking distance despite going 2-for-13 from the field over the final six minutes. The Eagles missed the front end of a one-and-one and were subsequently fouled on the next possession. Nix made 1-of-2 at the line to make it 72-70 with 1:41 to go.
 
After Southern Miss made it 74-70, Mason drew a foul and made both of his free throws to cut the deficit in half with 30 seconds to go. However, the Eagles would make each of their final four free throw attempts to seal their victory.
 
Next up for the Bobcats is a trip to the Peach State to take on Georgia Southern on Thursday at 7 p.m. CT.
 
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