The Texas State men’s basketball team (12-15, 5-9 Sun Belt Conference) is set to take on the Appalachian State Mountaineers (14-13, 7-7 Sun Belt Conference) at 5:30 p.m. this Thursday at the Holmes Center in Boone, North Carolina.
The Bobcats are coming off a heartbreaking 70-68 defeat at the hands of Old Dominion. The Monarchs won the game on a buzzer-beating layup from sophomore guard Imo Essien.
The game was a back-and-forth affair throughout, but after trailing by eight points with just under three minutes to play, Texas State made a few free throws and got a clutch 3-pointer from freshman guard Jordan Mason to tie the game at 68-68.
Unfortunately for the Bobcats, with just 4.8 seconds on the clock, Essien had an open lane to the basket that he capitalized on to secure the victory.
Head coach Terrence Johnson lamented the loss after the game and took ownership of the team’s crunch time blunder.
“It was a game that we felt like we let get away for a number of different reasons,” Johnson said after the game. “The game doesn’t come down to one play, but the one play, in particular, is the last one. I failed to get our guys in the right position to take away a straight-line drive. We will look at film and see where we could have been better, but that one play is going to stick out in my head.”
Johnson and his squad will now try to move on and prepare for an Appalachian State team that has also been struggling as of late, losing three of its last four contests.
The Mountaineer’s most recent bout was a 74-57 blowout courtesy of South Alabama.
The Jaguars jumped out to an early 26-8 lead that they held firm to throughout the game. App State would cut the lead to just 11 on a layup from freshman forward Justin Abson with 15:23 to play in the game, but that’s as close as it would get.
Texas State is 9-7 all-time against App State, winning its last match against the Mountaineers 68-66. However, the second most recent contest between these two teams came in the quarterfinals of the Sun Belt Conference tournament, a 76-73 victory for the Mountaineers.
If the pattern holds up, this should be a close game.
Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 16, at the Holmes Center in Boone, North Carolina. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.