SAN MARCOS, Texas – Texas State (3-0) chases its best start since 1980-81 hosting former Sun Belt Conference foe Southern Miss (2-1) on Friday night. Tipoff from Strahan Arena is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT.

Fans can watch live on the Pac-12 YouTube channel or follow the action on Statbroadcast.

SCOUTING THE BOBCATS
Texas State secured its first 3-0 start since 2011-12 with the 72-65 victory over UTRGV on Tuesday night at the UTRGV Fieldhouse. Dimp Pernell led the way for the Bobcats firing a career-high 26 points across 25 minutes. Pernell and Paul Djobet claimed the momentum out of the locker room after the 30-28 halftime score and went 4-4 from three, both draining a pair to contribute to a pivotal 12-1 run.

Prior to the road victory, the Bobcats posted the most points in a single match in program history in just game two of the 2026-27 campaign (Howard Payne, 135-66 final score), when 135 points broke the previous record of 126 points versus Our Lady of the Lake on Nov. 24, 2010. The mark was also the third-most in Pac-12 Conference history, fueled by seven different Bobcats reaching double figures and Paul Djobet's game-high 21-point performance.

ALL-TIME VS. THE GOLDEN EAGLES
Texas State and Southern Miss meet for the 11th time on Friday night, and for the first time as non-conference opponents. The series began when both programs were in the Sun Belt, where Southern Miss won the first meeting, 67-58, in Hattiesburg on Jan. 28, 2023.

The Bobcats are 3-1 against Southern Miss in San Marcos and have won the last three meetings at Strahan Arena, though Southern Miss leads the all-time series 6-4. The teams have split two meetings in the Sun Belt Tournament.

The most recent meeting was a 81-77 loss to Southern Miss in the 2026 Sun Belt Tournament in Pensacola on March 6, 2026.

STREAKS TO WATCH
Dating back to last season, the Bobcats won their last nine home games and opened the 2026-27 season making that number 11 straight at Strahan. The 10th longest home win streak in program history spanned 12 games, from Nov. 23, 1974-Dec. 9, 1974.

Not only do the Bobcats bring in an 11-game home win streak, but they are chasing their best start since 1980-81 when former Sun Belt Conference rival Southern Miss visits Strahan Arena for the first-ever meeting as non-conference opponents. The 1980-81 team started 6-0 under Coach Dan Wall and has since stood as the best start.

SUN BELT IN THE REARVIEW
The Bobcats went 119-115 in Sun Belt play over their 13 seasons in the conference. They won back-to-back regular-season titles in 2021 and 2022, both with 12-3 conference records, and reached the conference tournament final in 2017. From 2018-19 through 2021-22, Texas State had four straight winning seasons in Sun Belt play.

DIMP FROM DEEP
Junior guard Dimp Pernell connected for a career-high four three pointers in the win over UTRGV, the most by a Bobcat this season, and led the scoring en route to a career-high 26 points (9-for-12 FG). After an injury sat him a year ago, the former JUCO All-American has made the most of his minutes thus far averaging 11.3 points per game as the starting shooting guard.

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