Jaguars Halt Bobcats Momentum

By Jaysen Collins

Sports Reporter

The Texas State men’s basketball team were defeated by the South Alabama Jaguars by a final score of 81-73 on Thursday night at Strahan Arena.

The Bobcats were coming off a tough-road win against Coastal Carolina by a final score of 78-75. but they just can’t seem to put it together once they get back to San Marcos. Coach Johnson has also taken note of that.

“This is some of the issues that we’ve had all season when coming home and keeping our focus and keeping our hunger,” Johnson said. “We played against a team tonight that knew what was at stake, and they came in here and took care of business.”

The first half of the game was tight from start to finish. Both teams were finding solid looks, but neither team could pull away and get any type of momentum.

Towards the last eight minutes of the game, the Bobcats were able to score consistently. But on the other end, they were allowing the Jaguars to get whatever they wanted. This has been a problem all season, and Coach Johnson knows it.

“Just lack of focus, lack of toughness and lack of commitment to guarding the ball in space and taking care of your responsibilities,” Johnson said.

Brandon Love finished the game with 18 points to go along with three steals and three blocks while shooting 7-8 from the field. Mason Harrell finished with 11 points, and Drue Drinnon finished with 10 points.

Love was one of the lone bright spots in this matchup. His intensity and ability to score the ball helped the Bobcats tremendously. Coach Johnson thinks the game could have went an entirely different direction if Love didn’t perform the way he did.

“It could have got embarrassing had  he not had the kind of game he had. You guys can clearly see the kid’s talented,” Johnson said. “Those are just one of the things we would like to see every single day because the things he did today, he is very much so capable of doing that moving forward.”

The Bobcats shot 4-10 from the three-point line while the Jaguars shot 10-18. The Jaguars took advantage of most of their opportunities and made the Bobcats pay when they had open three-pointers.

Coach Johnson knows his team can compete at a high level. But when asked about the growth of his team, he says it’s hard to gauge it.

“I’ve seen flashes of brilliance, flashes of toughness, flashes of bringing culture to the floor, but I am one of those people that believes in consistency,” Johnson said. “I’m not by any means downplaying growth, what I’m telling you is that we are a team that lacks consistency. And for that, it’s hard to measure growth.

The Bobcats are currently ranked 11^th in the Sun Belt division after the loss to South Alabama. They will go on to play Southern Miss Friday Feb 24^th in Strahan Arena for their last home game of the season at 7pm.

Featured Image by Jaysen Collins.