Four Texas State players finished in double figures en route to a dominant win over the University of Louisiana-Monroe (ULM) Warhawks on Wednesday evening in Strahan Arena.
“I thought our guys came into the game with the right kind of focus. They understood how important it was for us to be sound today and how dangerous [the Warhawks] can be,” Texas State head coach Terrence Johnson said. “I thought it was a day where everyone contributed, and that’s what you want to see, so I’m just very thankful not for the win but for the effort and thankful we can do it in front of our fans.”
Senior forward Tylan Pope led the Bobcats in scoring with 16 points on 6-for-10 shooting. Senior forwards Tyrel Morgan and Christian Turner both scored 15 points, with Turner going 7-for-11. Additionally, Joshua O’Garro added 11 points off the bench.
ULM also had four players who finished with double-figure points but were less productive than Texas State. Coltie Young finished with 18 points on 6-for-14 shooting. Senior guard Tyreese Watson had 12 points on 2-for-10 shooting while senior forward Makai Willis played all 40 minutes and scored 10 points on nine attempts. Freshman guard Micah Caster scored 10 points as well but had the cleanest percentage, shooting 4-for-5.
After a 13-to-1 run to start the first half, the Bobcats did not let ULM take the lead once, leading by 27 points at one point.
The Bobcats won the rebound battle in dominant form. With 55 rebounds, 22 of them offensive, the team addressed its issues and came up on top. They also scored 36 points in the paint, 12 less than the total from their previous matchup on Feb. 13.
“We want to be able to dominate the paint. The perimeter is going to take care of itself,” Turner said. “The game is won in the trenches, so I believe we harp on that. We give ourselves a good shot to win the game.”
Next, the Bobcats look ahead to the weekend as the South Alabama Jaguars are coming to San Marcos. The last time these two teams played was Feb. 15, when the Jaguars escaped with a win in overtime. According to ESPN, the Bobcats are favorites to win by 9.8%. Texas State looks to get healthy and hot just in time for the Sun-Belt Conference Tournament, which will be March 4-10.
Tip-off between South Alabama and Texas State will begin at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday at Strahan Arena and will be available to stream on ESPN+.
