Texas State maintained its one-game lead in the Sun Belt with a 58-44 win over Troy on Thursday.
Junior guard Nijal Pearson, who missed practice this week due to the flu, put up a game-high 15 points and added six rebounds to lead the Bobcats past the Trojans. Freshman guard Mason Harrell recorded a career-high 14 points and added four assists and three rebounds
"We had four guys miss two practices due to illness this week, so I know that they didn't quite have it tonight and yet we were still able to win," head coach Danny Kaspar said. "I am proud that we fought through the adversities to pick up this victory tonight."
Texas State (23-6, 12-4 Sun Belt) got off to a slow start Thursday. Meanwhile, Troy (11-16, 4-11) began the game red-hot from beyond the arc.
The Trojans knocked down three straight 3-pointers to start the first half on top 9-4. Troy held a 13-8 advantage at the second media timeout with 11:44 left in the opening period.
Texas State quickly cut into the deficit after the break and took its first lead of the night at 18-16 off a Pearson 3-pointer.
The Bobcats continued to advance ahead of Troy and took a 30-21 lead into the intermission following a layup from Harrell.
Texas State pushed its lead to double digits early in the second half with a 3-pointer from junior guard Jaylen Shead.
The Trojans responded with a 10-4 run to get within 37-33. But that’s as close as Troy would get during the game. A 3 from Harrell followed by three straight triples from Pearson put Texas State’s ahead 48-35.
The Bobcats had their largest lead of the night at 56-38 after junior forward Eric Terry split a pair of free throws.
Texas State held onto its double-digit advantage to secure the 58-44 victory over the Trojans in front of a sparse crowd at Troy Arena in Troy, Ala.
"I thought we started slow but picked it up," Kaspar said. "I thought that our defense was good the whole game, but we had too many turnovers. We will have to play better if we want to win out."
Alongside the 29 points from Pearson and Harrell, Terry added nine, senior guard Tre Nottingham had seven points and redshirt freshman forward Alonzo Sule tallied six points and four rebounds.
Texas State outrebounded the Trojans, 37-27. The Bobcat bench outperformed Troy, 22-3. Texas State continued its good shooting streak at the free throw line, going 14 of 17 from the charity stripe.
The Bobcats continue their Alabama road swing on Saturday against South Alabama (13-15, 6-9) at 7 p.m. inside the Mitchell Center in Mobile, Ala.
