Bobcats looking to return to form in Sun Belt tourney
Entering the final two games of the regular season, Texas State needed just one win to earn the program’s first conference championship in 20 years.
The Bobcats set a program record for their Division I era with 23 wins this year but faltered down the stretch, losing to South Alabama and UT Arlington to close the regular season. Instead of heading to the Sun Belt Tournament as a possible No. 1 seed with a bye to the semifinals, Texas State (23-8, 12-6 Sun Belt) is the No. 4 seed and will face No. 8 South Alabama (17-16, 9-10) in the quarterfinals at 5 p.m. Friday at Lakefront Arena in New Orleans.
“We got knocked off our horse a little bit the last two games,” Texas State coach Danny Kaspar said. “And that is a concern for me.”
Kaspar said Texas State has been refocused this week, encouraged by a return to full strength for a rash of players who have dealt with illness or nagging injury in recent weeks.
Part of the process was a team meeting Monday during which Kaspar said he was honest with the players about the group’s shortcomings.
“I called out the starters,” Kaspar said. “I said it’s all on them. You guys are the ones who need to be talked to.”
Leading scorer Nijal Pearson scored one point on 0-for-8 shooting in a 7763 loss at South Alabama on March 2.
Kaspar said that loss “shook our confidence a little bit.” When Texas State closed the regular season March 9 against UT Arlington, second-leading scorer Tre’ Nottingham was limited to six points on 0-for-7 shooting in an 81-73 loss.
“We’re going to need those two guys to play reasonably well to win,” Kaspar said.
The Bobcats hit a combined 9 of 47 from 3-point range (19.1 percent) between the two losses, and Kaspar said the team must “rely a little bit less on the 3 and a little more on getting to the basket.”
He said some of the offensive struggles trickled over to defense, as South Alabama and UT Arlington hit a combined 57 percent from the field. For the season, the Bobcats still lead Sun Belt in scoring defense (64.2 points per game) and field goal percentage defense (41.1 percent).
“We have to get back to that,” Kaspar said. “We have to defend. Like I pointed out, ‘Guys, if we would’ve won either one of those games 52-50 and were conference cochamps, would we be in a better state of mind right now?’ They all agreed yes. I said, ‘Well, then lock down.’”
The two losses dropped Texas State to 12-6 in the league. Georgia State claimed the league’s regular season title at 13-5, while Georgia Southern and UT Arlington also finished 12-6.
Texas State has not won the Sun Belt Tournament since joining the league in 2013-14 and last went to the NCAA Tournament in 1997. The Bobcats’ last conference championship came as a member of the Southland in the 1998-99 season.
Texas State has won at least one Sun Belt Tournament game in each of the past four seasons under Kaspar.
“Our team is very capable of winning this tournament if we stick to the ideals of playing great defense and sharing the ball,” Kaspar said. “That’s why we’ve won 23 games so far.”