Junior guard Dontae Horn scored 20 points to lead Texas State men’s basketball (16-17, 7-11 Sun Belt Conference) past the University of Southern Mississippi (13-15, 7-9 Sun Belt Conference) 75-59 Thursday night at the Pensacola Bay Center in the second round of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.
Horn went 10-12 from the free throw line and pulled down seven rebounds to his stat sheet. Sophomore guard Jordan Mason and senior guard Dylan Dawson added 18 points and 12 points, respectively.
Senior guard Austin Crowley and senior forward Victor Heart led the Golden Eagles points with 16 and 20, respectively. However, it just wasn’t enough to keep up with Texas State.
Coming off their first win of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament against Old Dominion on Tuesday, the Bobcats opened the game by scoring the first five points.The game’s first three minutes were highly competitive as sophomore forward Davion Sykes got an early and-one. Sykes finished with seven points, six rebounds and two steals.
Southern Miss played a firm man-to-man defense, leading Texas State to shoot 28% from the three-point line, but the Bobcats generated enough offense to seal the victory.
Texas State opened up the second half with a 13-point lead and continued to run the score up. The Bobcats never gave up the lead in the second half.
Texas State will face Troy University (20-11, 13-5 Sun Belt Conference) in the tournament’s quarterfinal round. The last time the two teams met, Texas State won 82-79 in overtime.
Tip-off between Texas State and Troy University is scheduled for 5 p.m. Saturday, Mar. 9, at the Pensacola Bay Center in Pensacola, Florida. The game will be available to stream on ESPN+.
