Almost everything was routine about Nijal Pearson’s exit from Wednesday night’s game.
The senior guard drained a 3-pointer from the right wing late in the second half. He was up to 23 points on the evening, pushing the maroon and gold up big. Head coach Danny Kaspar called a 30-second timeout to pull his starters with 1:14 remaining in the contest. No. 3 seed Texas State (21-11, 13-7 conference) went on to clinch a win over No. 6 seed Appalachian State (18-15, 11-9) in the Sun Belt quarterfinals, 85-68.
“I told him I was proud of him,” head coach Danny Kaspar said.
“He always tells me that,” Pearson said.
But there were two chief differences about Pearson’s departure Wednesday. The first was that it was the Sun Player of the Year’s last at Strahan Arena.
The second was that it was to a standing ovation of 6,308 — the second-largest crowd in program history, each spectator donning white T-shirts that read “Bobcat Madness.”
“I'm not real emotional. So (there were) not a lot of emotions,” Pearson said. “I mean, I gave (the fans) all I could give. I left everything out there. You know, I think everybody’s seen that time and time again. So it wasn't just like, ‘Oh, this is my last game, it hurts so bad.’ I'm content.”
Kaspar’s built the “madness” from the ground up, leaning heavily on Pearson’s stoicism. The head coach has done it before in his previous stops with players like David Wesley at Baylor and Thomas Walkup at Stephen F. Austin.
Pearson’s carried the baton as best as he can, leading Texas State to three 20-win seasons in four years, staking out a spot in the league tournament semifinals every time.
“Nijal had some people look at him (in high school). But in the end, he was overlooked. And look what he's done,” Kaspar said. “Recruiting is not an exact science. But I tell my assistants, 'Find out not only about skill level and athleticism, but about heart, IQ, work ethic. (Pearson) has all those things. He competes, he loves the game.”
Pearson hasn’t taken the team this far alone, though. Junior forward Isiah Small posted a career-high 23 points against App state to tie Pearson for most in the game while adding a team-best nine rebounds. Terry and junior forward Quentin Scott chipped in another 22 points combined.
It’s for that reason Kaspar believes the Bobcats are poised to make one of their deepest tournament runs to date. After the final buzzer sounded, he grabbed a microphone to thank the attendees for their support.
“We’re gonna get to the NCAA tournament for you guys,” he told them.
He meant it.
“I've never felt more confident about a team winning this thing than I do with these guys,” Kaspar said. “I feel really good if we can stay healthy. And if we continue to play defense — and with the intensity we have — I feel good about going to New Orleans (for the Sun Belt tournament) and continuing thereafter.”
Texas State will face No. 2 seed South Alabama (20-11, 13-7) in the Sun Belt semifinals. The game is scheduled to take place at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans on Saturday at 2 p.m.
The Bobcats fell to the Jaguars in the regular season finale just over a week ago. But after completing a perfect ending in San Marcos on Wednesday, Pearson feels the same as Kaspar.
“My confidence high. I always believe as soon as we step on the court, we can win the game. The toughest team wins. We're a tough team,” Pearson said. “We've been in win-now mode since January. So that's also a plus for us. We've been winning must-win games for a long time now. So we're not in panic mode, we're not forcing, we're not getting out of character, we're just playing basketball to the best of our ability. And when we do that, we're a pretty tough team to beat.”
Sun Belt weighing tournament decision over COVID-19 concerns
NCAA President Mark Emmert announced in a statement Wednesday afternoon that the men’s and women’s national basketball tournaments will not be open to the public due to concerns over the spread of coronavirus, permitting only essential staff and limited family members.
Multiple conferences, including the Big 10 and Big 12, followed suit, barring spectators from attending their league tournaments.
A Texas State team source told the Daily Record that no decision has been made yet by Sun Belt officials on whether it plans to do the same, but that discussions were ongoing and expected the conference to make an announcement on Thursday.
Kaspar said he hasn’t ever played or coached in an empty arena before and also hasn’t thought much about the prospect.
“I've never, never experienced anything like this,” Kaspar said. “We're very aware of it. You know, if we don't play in front of anybody — I mean, family can be there. They gotta let our families in. So that's what's important.”
