Texas State men’s basketball (19-6 overall, 10-3 Sun Belt) routed the Little Rock Trojans (8-16 overall, 3-9 Sun Belt) 68-50 Saturday afternoon to extend its win streak to seven.
The Bobcats allowed only six points during the final five minutes of the ball game after both teams traded blows to start the game. Texas State built a comfortable lead the Trojans weren’t able to overcome during the second half, leading by double-digits from the 09:25 mark until the remainder of the game.
The win improves Texas State’s home record to 12-1 on the season as it prepares to play its final two regular-season games on the road.
Texas State started the game off on an 18-4 run, but the Trojans were able to bring it within five at the end of the first half to make the score 31-26. The ‘Cats made their presence known in the paint early, scoring 14 of those points inside.
Little Rock outscored the ‘Cats 7-3 early in the second half to cut the deficit to one but the Bobcats quickly shut that down, making three straight three-points to balloon the lead back up to seven and Texas State never looked back after. The closest Little Rock was able to get was at the 12:25 mark when it pulled within six but couldn’t slow the Bobcats down the rest of the way.
Texas State outscored Little Rock 37-24 in the second half and went up by as much as 18.
Senior guard Mason Harrell (19 PTS, 6-11 FGS, 3-7 3PTS, 4-4 FT, 3 REB) finished as the game’s highest scorer. Senior forward Nighael Ceasar added 12 points, eight rebounds and one assist.
Junior forward Myron Gardner and freshman guard D.J. Smith scored 10 points apiece for the Trojans.
The Sun Belt leading Bobcats look to continue their win streak as they face the South Alabama Jaguars at 7 p.m. on Feb. 23 at Mitchell Center in Alabama. The game will air on ESPN+.