Texas State traveled up I-10 to face a winless Houston Baptist squad, and the Huskies gave the Bobcats all they could and more as HBU overcome an early deficit to win 88-81 Saturday night.
Much like the thriller in San Marcos last Saturday against North Texas, the Bobcats jumped out to an early lead and it seemed, once again, as if they would just run away with this one. Texas State held a 10-point lead throughout the better portion of the first half, but they allowed the home team to go on a run and gain some confidence. The ‘Cats were dominating in three major categories in the first half that were drastically flipped in the second, but one thing they did not take advantage of (yet again) was opportunities at the free throw line.
At intermission, Texas State had a 32-16 advantage in points in the paint, a 16-6 advantage in points off of turnovers, and they only had seven turnovers compared to the Huskies’ eleven. However, the Bobcats shot 10/22 at the free throw line while HBU shot 5/9. So just like the numbers showed, the ’Cats were attacking the interior and getting to the line, but they could not capitalize. A guy who was on the Bobcats’ scouting report was 6’6” senior forward Andrew Gonzalez, who came into Saturday’s game averaging 20 points per game. At halftime he already had 18 points and five rebounds after shooting 7-12 from the field and 4/6 from the free throw line. These factors lead to a 42-41 Texas State lead after the first 20 minutes.
Now I said this was a lot like last Saturday’s game, because you might recall the matchup against UNT in which the ‘Cats held a 14-point advantage throughout the majority of the game only to give it up in the final five minutes and lose. Well in this one, Texas State did a complete 180 and everything they did well in the first period, they did poorly in the second. That 32-16 points in the paint advantage evaporated and turned into a 46-all unnoticed statistic. Remember the 16-6 points off turnovers mark? Well that was long gone as well and became a 23-20 mark. Then the infamous turnover statistic... well that seven turnover staple they had at the half (HBU had eleven) became a 17-15 deficit for the Bobcats, and it showed up on the final scoreboard.
Texas State switched to a 2-3 zone in the last few minutes of the first half that gave the Huskies some problems, but the ‘Cats might have stayed in it a little too long in the second as HBU picked them apart in the last ten minutes of the ball game. The Bobcats did not go back to man-to-man defense until the 2:35 minute mark in the second period, and that, along with HBU shooting 56 percent from the field, also contributed to Texas State’s woes on defense.
Senior forward Jonathan Sloan had a strong outing as he finished with a team high 14 points and nine rebounds. Cameron Johnson netted 12 points (4/9 from the line), and John Bowman and Travis Jones both finished with eleven. A.J. Stewart was no slouch on D as he protected the paint with five blocks. Yet the ‘Cats as a whole shot 4-17 from three point range and 17-30 from the free throw line, and that did not help their cause at all.
However, we can talk about all of the reasons that the ‘Cats might have lost until we are blue in the face. Bottom line is that this team needs to figure out a way to hold on to leads and play the entire 40 minutes of basketball rather than 20 or 35 because this preseason slate is coming to an end, and the games that they cannot afford to lose are fast approaching. Their overall record now stands at 2-4.
Texas State will be back on the court next Saturday at the Erwin Center in Austin, TX to face a nationally ranked Texas Longhorn team. Tip off is set for 3:00 P.M. and KTSW will have pregame coverage starting at 2:45 on 89.9 FM and ktsw.net.
Robert Fisher, KTSW Assistant Sports Director
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