After a long week off for finals, the Texas Longhorns are back in action tonight, when they host Texas State in the first of a five-game homestand that will close out the non-conference slate. Although the Longhorns will face a pair of solid foes in Long Beach State and Stanford, they are still favored in each of those five games, with Ken Pomeroy currently giving Texas win percentages of at least 84% in all of them.

Tonight’s game falls in that time frame that can usually lead to lackluster performances by good teams. For most major conference teams, this is the start of the easier portion of their schedule, having just wrapped up the November tournaments and early December power-conference matchups. Throw in finals and a short holiday break just around the corner, and you find that this is typically the weekend that contending teams look rather pedestrian.

Even with the Longhorns favored by a massive spread, this would be a dangerous night for them to fall asleep on the job. Texas State is now in the second year of the Danny Kaspar era, and after a dreadful first season, he’s restocked the roster with a ton of JUCO talent.

The Bobats have made nearly 40% of their threes this season, and have posted a defensive turnover rate of 25.7%, currently the 10th-best mark in Division I. Good three-point shooting is always an ingredient in upsets, and the Longhorns have also had trouble hanging on to the basketball. Although the Bobcats have taken a very small percentage of their shots from behind the arc, the interior size of the Longhorns will likely force them to spend more time on the perimeter tonight. If the Bobcats continue to shoot that well from beyond the arc, they could make things interesting.

Thanks to the explosion of streaming options and the expansion of college basketball coverage in the nine years I’ve been writing on this website, it’s very rare that I haven’t been able to see an opponent at least once before writing a game preview. With the incredibly soft schedule that Kaspar lined up for November, this will be one of those situations. Texas State has played a pair of teams that aren’t in Division I, while their other four opponents have an average KenPom rank of 302.5. There are only 351 D-I teams.

Without having seen the Bobcats play, the game preview will be quick and dirty, and really just consist of stats. In the team’s four D-I games, they utilized a seven-man rotation, with six of those players combining to play more than 84% of the available minutes. The seventh, JUCO combo guard Ethan Montalvo, averaged just under 15 minutes in D-I contests.

Junior center Emani Gant (No. 21) and 6’7″ sophomore forward Kavin Gilder-Tilbury (No. 1) are both high-usage players for Coach Kaspar, utilizing 24% and 24.7% of the possessions when they’re on the floor. In last year’s meeting with Texas, the 6’8″ Gant found his time limited by foul trouble, but still scored seven points and logged four assists. Gilder-Tilbury also contributed seven against the Longhorns, but connected on just one of his five three-point attempts.

The bulk of the backcourt minutes are chewed up by seniors D.J. Brown (No. 0) and Wesley Davis (No. 10). Brown is a graduate transfer from San Jose State, and his leadership at the point has filled a massive hole for the Bobcats. In D-I games, he’s posted an assist rate of 20.5% during his time on the floor, while turning it over on just 9.9% of the team’s possessions. Davis is an excellent defender, as evidenced by his 5.2% steal rate against D-I competition, currently the 23rd-best mark in the country. The Longhorns were able to avoid falling victim to his quick hands last year, as he logged just one steal in 17 minutes.

Cameron Naylor (No. 24) and JaMarcus Witherspoon (No. 23) are two of the many JUCO additions to the Texas State roster. Naylor earned all-league honors in the Panhandle Conference last year, and has been the best offensive rebounder for the Bobcats so far this season, in terms of OR%. Witherspoon is a 6’4″ guard whose aggressive play has drawn more than five fouls per forty minutes.

Keys to the game

1. Hang on to the ball – The Texas State defense doesn’t do a very good job of forcing bad shots, instead relying on turnovers to shut down their opponents. The Longhorns have had a rash of troubling turnovers with Isaiah Taylor out of action, so they will need to take care of the ball tonight. If they can avoid dumb turnovers, they should be able to find some very easy looks inside.

2. Dominate the glass – The size advantage should not only allow Texas to find easy looks inside, but should also allow them to limit second-chance opportunities, while earning some putbacks of their own. The Longhorns outrebounded a very large Kentucky team last Friday night, but fell victim to rebounds when it mattered most. It should be much easier tonight for Texas to impose their will on the glass from tip to final buzzer.

3. Limit damage from the perimeter – Texas State only takes 23.8% of their shots from beyond the arc, but they have yet to face a team with as much size as the Longhorns. The Bobcats have made 39.6% of their limited three-point attempts, so Texas needs to make sure that they are getting hands up and actually challenging any long-range shots that Texas State tries tonight. Gilder-Tilbury was the team’s best three-point shooter last year, but it’s been Brown who is leading the way this year, sinking 8-of-16 since arriving in San Marcos.

The Texas Longhorns are back in action tonight at the Erwin Center, hosting Texas State in a game that has all the ingredients for a letdown performance. The Horns are coming off of a thrilling overtime win at Temple last Saturday, in which Javan Felix hit a clutch three with just seconds left to earn the win. Since then, the players have had a week off to deal with final exams, and now face a Bobcat team that should have no chance for an upset. With massive tests against North Carolina and Michigan State looming in the next week, it wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see a lackluster effort from the Horns tonight.

By the numbers

Texas State comes in sporting a disappointing 3-6 mark, with one of those wins coming on Wednesday against Division II foe Cedarville. The Bobcats are in the midst of a major culture change under new coach Danny Kaspar, who was famous for stifling defense at Stephen F. Austin. Texas State, on the other hand, was practically allergic to defense under old coach Doug Davalos, and the team always played at a breakneck pace. The Bobcats finished in the top seven of Ken Pomeroy’s adjusted tempo rankings in each of Coach Davalos’ seven seasons. This year, Texas State is ranked 314th out of 351 Division I teams in that department.

It’s going to be a long process for Kaspar to get the Texas State program to the level at which he had the Lumberjacks. Through the first nine games of his tenure, the Bobcats are in the bottom third of D-I hoops in both adjusted offensive and adjusted defensive efficiency. They are seventh-worst in the nation at defending the three-point line, with opponents hitting more than 43% of their attempts. On the offensive end, they turn it over roughly once in every five possessions, and rarely manage to get to the free-throw line. Earning just three trips for every ten field-goal attempts ranks Texas State as the 31st-worst D-I team in free-throw rate.

Meet the Bobcats

To say Texas State relies heavily on senior forward Joel Wright (No. 25) would be a significant understatement. Wright’s usage rate of 35.7% is second-highest in the country, and he takes more than 33% of his team’s shots when he is on the floor. He can score in a variety of ways, as he can easily attack with the bounce from the perimeter, moves well without the ball, and has a nose for offensive rebounds. He also has shown an ability to knock down triples consistently, but he only takes a few from beyond the arc each game.

Unfortunately, with Wright the only reliable scorer on the team, he often forces things. He repeatedly takes on multiple defenders by himself in face up situations, rather than probing and drawing the extra defenders before hitting teammates. He also fails to exploit opponents who double him on the catch near the paint, missing opportunities to set up teammates with kickouts.

One player who should help take the load off of Wright this season is JUCO transfer Emani Gant (No. 21), who has a great post game despite being listed at just 6’8″. He makes strong, confident moves when he gets the ball down low, not allowing teams enough time to challenge him with help defense. His spin moves are smooth and he has a great ability to finish near the rim.

Another newcomer that will likely be a big part of Kaspar’s program-building project is freshman forward Kavin Gilder-Tilbury (No. 1). He came off the bench in the team’s first eight games, but earned the start in Wednesday’s win over Cedarville. Gilder-Tilbury has a great jumpshot that he can hit all over the court, but he has been especially hot from long range. He has made 14 of 29 from beyond the arc, and has taken just more than half of his total attempts from long range.

Guard Wesley Davis (No. 10) started most of the team’s games last year, but found himself coming off the bench in this season’s opener at Houston. His ability to put the ball on the floor and get to the rim has made him one of the top scorers on an offensively-challenged team, and it put him back in the starting lineup for every game since that season-opener.

Joining Davis in the backcourt is point guard Phil Hawkins (No. 0), a senior who is being trusted to implement Kaspar’s new, patient style of play. His assist rate is actually lower than his turnover rate, a stat that not only underscores how the Bobcats have struggled to score, but also serves as a reminder of Wright’s preference for trying to beat guys one-on-one. If Texas State is going to find success in the Sun Belt, they will have to get away from the mindset of dumping it in to Wright and letting him work and instead have Hawkins step up as more of a leader at the point.

Keys to the Game

1) Frustrate Wright – Although Wright is going to get his points against Texas, the Longhorns can easily force him to play into their hands. Wright often fails to identify help defense — or is perhaps just overly confident he can beat two and three defenders at once — and will repeatedly drive against sound, established defense. If the Longhorns give him just enough space to still be able to close out on jumpers and are also ready to provide the interior help that has made them dominant around the paint, Wright will likely make quite a few mistakes. When one player ends more than 35% of his team’s possessions, getting him to waste some of those on bad shots and turnovers is a very easy way to win.

2) Score in transition – Old habits die hard, and Texas State is still learning how to actually play Kaspar-style defense. The Bobcats often fail to stop transition, not only after missed shots, but even after their own makes, too. The Longhorns have used an up-tempo attack all season long, and they have scored a nice chunk of points in the transition game. Taking advantage of Texas State’s defensive lapses should give Texas quite a few easy hoops tonight.

3) Exploit size advantage inside – The Bobcats two tallest players, Gant and seldom-used Gordon Ball (No. 31), are listed at just 6’8″. The Longhorns, meanwhile, have four rotation guys taller than that, and are ranked 21st nationally in defensive rebounding percentage and 22nd in offensive rebounding percentage. If Texas continues that kind of dominance against a much smaller Texas State team, they should limit the Bobcats to numerous one-shot possessions and also earn quite a few second-chance points of their own. That size advantage should also make it very difficult for Texas State to score inside and should turn them into a jump-shooting team.

The Texas Longhorns take a brief reprieve from their brutal December schedule, retuning home this evening to host Texas State. The Horns are in desperate need of a win, coming off of a demoralizing loss to Georgetown in New York and a late-game meltdown against UCLA in Houston. Fortunately, the Bobcats have historically been an agreeable non-con visitor, losing the last 23 times in their series with Texas.

The Longhorns were headed in the right direction last Saturday, although the final four minutes of their loss to UCLA might have erased those memories from the minds of most Texas fans. Ball movement was crisp on the offensive end, players were moving consistently off the ball, and Cameron Ridley put in his a solid performance for the second consecutive game. Most importantly, the Longhorns did a fantastic job controlling the basketball for a majority of the game, although the turnover bug caught up with them in crunch time.

Tonight, it’s imperative that Texas continue to build on the things that were done correctly against UCLA. If the Longhorns can once again control the basketball against a Texas State team that pushes the tempo and forces mistakes, they will perhaps start to believe that they can overcome those issues. If Ridley and Javan Felix can follow up their strong performances with another good outing tonight, their confidence will be higher heading into two very tough games against North Carolina and Michigan State. Conference play is just three weeks away, so Texas has very few opportunities left to reinforce good habits and change the psychology of a team that Sheldon McClellan said is made up of “guys [who] don’t believe we can win.”

By the numbers

As has been the case since Coach Doug Davalos arrived on campus in 2006, the Bobcats love to get out and run. In each of Davalos’ first five seasons, Texas State was one of the five fastest teams in D-I hoops. Even last year, the Bobcats still were the seventh-fastest team in the nation, squeezing more than 72 possessions out of every game. This year, they are averaging more than 75 possessions per game, the third-quickest tempo in the country.

Historically, the Longhorns have had very little problem with the up-tempo approach of the Bobcats. In their six meetings with a Davalos-led Texas State squad, the Horns have averaged 79.5 possessions and have scored 1.153 points each time down the floor.

As it has been all season, the primary area for concern for the Longhorns is in controlling the basketball. Even after posting a turnover mark of just 15.5% against UCLA last Saturday, Texas still has a 26.6% turnover percentage for the year, one of the 20 worst marks in D-I hoops. The Bobcats, meanwhile, force mistakes on more than 24% of their opponents’ possessions. This evening’s game will provide a very good test for the Texas ballhandlers, one which should show whether or not the team’s improvement in ball control was the start of a trend or just a statistical blip.

On the other end of the court, Texas State has struggled to score consistently this season. According to Ken Pomeroy, their adjusted offensive efficiency is 0.955 points per possession, thanks in large part to an inability to reclaim missed shots. The Bobcats have grabbed just 28.9% of their offensive rebounding opportunities, one of the 100 worst marks in Division I.

The Longhorns were killed on the defensive glass in those painful final minutes against UCLA, so this offers a good chance for Texas to improve in that department. With only one member of the core Bobcat rotation checking in over 6’7″, there’s no reason why the Horns shouldn’t dominate on the glass tonight.

Meet the Bobcats

Texas State brings back quite a bit of experience this year, as three of the Bobcat starters faced off against Texas at the Erwin Center last season. The team has six upperclassmen, including a pair of JUCO transfers that have cracked the starting rotation.

Point guard Vonn Jones (No. 1) had a rough year shooting the ball as a junior, but has made good strides so far in his senior campaign. Jones is the team’s best three-point threat, leading the team in both attempts (33) and accuracy (45.5%). Coach Davalos also believes that Jones has improved his defense in the offseason, something that has helped him keep the starting job and average 24 minutes per game.

Wesley Davis (No. 10) joins Jones in the backcourt, where he’s started every game as a sophomore. Davis was recruited to be a shooter for the Bobcats, but has taken only about 17% of the team’s looks when he’s been on the floor. Perhaps the most confounding thing about Davis is his career mark of 64.5% from the line. For someone who is supposed to be launching it regularly, that level of accuracy on the easiest of shots is incredibly troubling.

JUCO transfers Joel Wright (No. 25) and Corey Stern (No. 5) have combined for 11 starts and more than 24 points per game. The addition of this pair of 6’7″ guys was supposed to be the solution to poor rebounding numbers from a year before, but results have been mixed so far. Wright has certainly done his part, posting an offensive rebounding percentage that ranks him as one of the Top 100 players nationally. Per game, his 6.2 rebounds are tops on the team, while Stern has managed just 4.4 per game.

In the middle, senior Matt Staff (No. 21) is still the team’s only true big man, checking in at 6’10”. He leads the team in both minutes and points, scoring more than 16 in just over 27 minutes per game. If the Longhorns can get him in foul trouble, as they did to UCLA’s Travis Wear last Saturday, they will suddenly have quite the size advantage over the Bobcats.

With Wright and Stern working their way into the starting five, junior Reid Koenen (No. 3) has shifted to a sixth-man role. The 6’7″ Wisconsin native is now back in his comfortable role of small forward, where he can match up better with quick opponents on the wings.

Also coming off the bench is freshman Phil Hawkins (No. 0), who was expected to challenge Jones for the starting point guard spot this year. While Hawkins hasn’t made any starts yet, he’s still averaging nearly 18 minutes per game. Turnovers have been holding back his progress this year, as he’s coughed it up 17 times against just eight assists.

Guards Darius Richardson (No. 13) and Ray Dorsey (No. 4) round out the core rotation for Texas State. Richardson is a strong 6’4″ guard who can play the two or the three and has seen the court for about 12 minutes per game. He was a regular starter at UT-Arlington before transferring to Texas State, but will have to wait another year before earning that honor for the Bobcats. Dorsey is a 6’3″ freshman who is playing around 10 minutes per game and has as many assists — seven — as buckets this year.

Keys to the game

1) Control the basketball – As promised, this key to the game is keeping its standard spot in the game preview. The Longhorns did a much better job controlling the basketball for a majority of the game against UCLA, but coughed it up when it mattered most. While Texas State hasn’t been a particularly good team this season, they can force mistakes with their up-tempo approach. If Texas wants to avoid the unthinkable upset, they cannot waste possessions with turnovers.

2) Take advantage inside – The Bobcats are undersized and have not done a good job on the glass this season. The Longhorns, meanwhile, have provided some excellent post defense and did a great job scoring in the paint against UCLA. Texas needs to establish a post presence early in this one and work to control the glass, something that has often been a challenge this season.

3) Get Sheldon McClellan going early – Against UCLA, McClellan once again had a rough first half, not even cracking the scoring column for the first 17-plus minutes of the game. He played much more aggressively in the second half, putting the ball on the floor to create better looks rather than relying exclusively on jump shots. While the Horns need to get Ridley the ball early in this game, Sheldon also must be aggressive with the ball to avoid yet another slow start.

It was a one-sided affair at the Erwin Center on Saturday night, as Texas used runs of 26-4 and 29-10 to blow open the game against Texas State and cruise to an 86-52 victory. The Longhorns set season highs with 50% shooting from behind the arc and a 56.3% mark from the field.

What looked good

The excellent shooting percentage was the result of the team executing especially well in the half-court. Texas found great success on pick-and-rolls, and also scored a nice chunk of points off of dribble penetration with kicks to the crashing bigs on the baseline. In the second half, great ball movement against a short-lived Texas State zone allowed the Longhorns to drill six three-pointers within four minutes of leaving the locker room.

Amidst all of the excellent looks and easy buckets, Julien Lewis had a career night. The freshman led the team in scoring with 19 points, making him the fifth different player to lead the team in the last five games. Lewis made four three-pointers and a pull-up jumper during the first six minutes of the second half to put the game definitively out of reach.

Although Sheldon McClellan didn’t follow up his breakout game against UT-Arlington with another scoring barrage against the Bobcats, he quietly chipped in 13 points to the winning effort. He had another excellent game rebounding from the wing, securing six boards, and added an excellent block from behind during a Texas State fast break. McClellan also earned a steal for Lewis by pressuring Texas State’s Vonn Jones to throw an errant pass. For his hard work, McClellan scored a layup on the ensuing break.

That type of team defense is what allowed Texas to build such an insurmountable lead. In the first half, the Longhorns absolutely stifled the Bobcats, limiting them to only three field goals and 13.6% shooting. Texas played solid help defense and frustrated Texas State into forcing challenged shots. The Bobcats had one stretch of more than 14 minutes in the first half without a field goal. Unfortunately, the Longhorn effort waned as the team’s lead ballooned to nearly 40 in the second half, or else we could be talking about this as one of the team’s all-time best defensive games.

Texas also had a great night on the glass, as was to be expected against a much smaller Texas State team. The Longhorns posted their second-best defensive rebounding number of the season, securing 72% of the Bobcat misses. Combined with the excellent team D, that dominant work on the defensive glass completely shut down Texas State. While Texas will not see many teams this small as they move into conference play, hopefully this outing will crystallize the importance of defensive rebounding for the youngsters.

It was also great to see confident, aggressive play inside from Wangmene. In the past, he was often bobbling passes or rebounds, but over the last few weeks, he’s doing a much better job controlling the feeds and going to the rack. As Wangmene said in the post-game presser, “Either I would get fouled, or I would make the basket.” He also did really good work on the glass and could have challenged for a double-double if not limited to just 20 minutes in the blowout. The senior finished with 11 points and nine rebounds.

Over the last three games, Wangmene is averaging 9.7 points and 5.7 rebounds in 24.3 minutes. The most telling stat, though, is his 78.6% shooting percentage over that stretch. The guards are finding him in good spots to set up easy looks, and the big man is finishing. While the Longhorns could use even more rebounding from Wangmene, what he is providing right now on offense is exactly what Texas needs from him.

Freshman Sterling Gibbs also played very aggressively coming off of the bench. Listed generously at just 6’1″, Gibbs had issues against taller, active defenders earlier this season. Against Texas State, he put the ball on the floor and attacked the paint, earning eight free throws as a result. He knocked down seven of them, setting a career-high in the process with nine points.

What needed work

Texas still looked flustered against any type of pressure in the backcourt, but Clint Chapman was especially discombobulated. This has been a recurring problem for the big man, and it’s something that will have to be addressed before Big 12 teams start gameplanning for it. Although Chapman can hold the ball high to avoid a steal, he consistently has difficulty finding an outlet against pressure and looks panicked as a five-count approaches.

It was also disappointing to see the Texas defense give up a lot of easy looks in the second half. While that lack of focus can clearly be attributed to the huge lead, it still can make you wonder if the team will maintain the attention needed to play all-out, suffocating defense for 40 minutes. For the Longhorns to be successful in Big 12 play, there’s no doubt that they will have to play sound team defense from tip-off to the final buzzer.

It’s also worth noting that while Texas was consistently executing in their half-court sets, the Horns were also forcing things at times. The team ended up with 16 turnovers, which equates to a miscue on more than 24% of their possessions. Most of those came from guards trying to thread the needle on the pick-and-roll when the passing lanes were closing. Brown and Myck Kabongo combined for six turnovers on the game, many of them coming this way. The Longhorns have to make sure that they are only taking what the defense gives them and not trying to push the envelope too much.

Up next: vs. Nicholls State (2-6); Tuesday, 7 P.M. CT

The Texas Longhorns are back in action tonight as they renew their annual rivalry with nearby Texas State at the Frank Erwin Center. This is the 46th all-time meeting on the hardwood between these two schools, and this marks the eighth-straight year they have squared off. Texas has defeated Texas State a whopping 40 out of 45 times, with their last defeat coming all the way back in the 1937-38 season.

The Longhorns looked good in their last outing, riding the hot hand of freshman Sheldon McClellan to an 18-point win over UT-Arlington. Texas had five players in double-digit scoring and sank more than 48% of their shots from the field in the victory. Fans can look forward to even more offense tonight as the Longhorns squeeze in another tune-up before tougher non-conference tests at the end of the month.

By the numbers

Once again, Texas State is one of the fastest five teams in the country, an honor the team has held in each of Coach Doug Davalos’ first five seasons in San Marcos. The Bobcats actually played at the fastest tempo in all of Division-I basketball during the 2007-08 season, averaging more than 80 possessions per game. Although that number is incredible in its own right, it’s even more ridiculous that the Longhorns and Bobcats have averaged 81.2 possessions in their five match-ups since Davalos took over.

Last year, the Bobcats had a hard time scoring the ball. This year, their offense has improved slightly, but now their defense is one of the absolute worst in the country. Texas State is allowing 1.094 points per possession, a number that only puts them ahead of 16 other D-I schools in that department.

The Bobcats have one of the 25 worst free-throw rates in D-I, allowing their opponents one free throw for every two field goal attempts. Of course, they are also allowing opponents to knock down 40% of their threes and almost 45% of their shots, so perhaps allowing other teams to beat them one point at a time might not seem so bad in comparison.

Texas fans will like the fact that Texas State is one of the worst offensive rebounding teams in the country. The Longhorns have been equally bad on the defensive glass, so the rebounding battle on that end of the floor will be interesting. One would think that the bigger Texas frontcourt would be able to exploit their size advantage, but that hasn’t been the case so far this season against smaller teams.

Those poor offensive rebounding numbers are really killing the Bobcat offense, which is actually shooting at a 47% clip and is making 40% of their threes. Texas State is also controlling the ball very well, turning it over on just 16.6% of their possessions. That number is just outside of the Top 20 nationally, but it is even more remarkable when you remember just how fast they play the game. If Texas State could actually reclaim some of their missed shots, the offense would be incredibly efficient.

Meet the Bobcats

As is the case every year, Coach Davalos has a very deep bench that he uses liberally to keep fresh legs on the court. Nine different Bobcats average more than 14 minutes a game, with another four players on the bench averaging between seven and nine. If this game is played at the breakneck speed of the last five meetings, there is no doubt that the smaller Longhorn rotation is going to be gassed down the stretch.

Although the Bobcats have a true ensemble cast, the one word that best describes the team is young. Texas State lost five of the top six scorers from last year’s team, meaning that just 35.3% of the team’s scoring returned this season. While the Longhorns are certainly in a similar situation, the newcomers on the Texas State sideline are just a tad less heralded than those Rick Barnes has brought on board.

Fortunately for the Bobcats, junior Matt Staff (No. 21) has stepped up in a big way this season. A transfer from the University of New Mexico, Staff didn’t see much playing time in his first year at Texas State, as then-seniors Tony Bishop and Cameron Johnson were the unquestioned leaders. This year, however, he’s playing nearly 20 minutes a game and leads the team with a 12.9 scoring average. Coach Davalos has said that Staff is a good shooter who can work the pick-and-pop, but he’s done most of his work inside so far this season.

Staff is also tops on the team in rebounding by a wide margin. He is averaging 7.6 rebounds, including three per game on the offensive end. Guard Travis Jones has the next-best mark for the Bobcats, and he has only pulled down 4.4 boards per game.

Senior Eddie Rios (No. 11) has also become a leader this season, and is right on the heels of Staff in the scoring race. Averaging 12.8 points per game, the former Miami Hurricane is also averaging just over three assists per game and has made nearly 42% of his three-point attempts. Rios didn’t play when the teams met last season, but he did log 10 minutes and three points when Miami played Texas in the second round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament.

Senior guard John Bowman (No. 5) is the only returning player who started against the Longhorns last season, one of 32 starts he earned during his junior campaign. This year, he is averaging over seven points and roughly 20 minutes of action per game. He is the best on-ball defender for the Bobcats, so it’s very likely that the 6’4″ guard will be tasked with shutting down J’Covan Brown.

On the wing, Brooks Ybarra (No. 2) is having a solid start to his senior year. He is averaging more than 11 points per game and has made almost 47% of his looks from behind the arc. Those are impressive numbers for a guy who is a former walk-on. Ybarra is also bringing the effort on the defensive end, a big reason why he’s started seven of the team’s eight games so far.

Sophomore Reid Koenen (No. 3) has really upped his numbers from his freshman season, raising his scoring average from just one point per game to nearly eight this year. He’s also increased his rebounding numbers exponentially, improving from 0.4 boards per game last year to just a shade under three this year. Koenen actually had one of the best games of his season against the Longhorns last year, scoring five points in eight minutes.

Senior guard Travis Jones (No. 15) also had a good game against Texas last year, knocking down 3-of-5 from behind the arc. This season, he’s had even more success from long range, sinking more than 54% of his three-point attempts. As we mentioned above, Jones has improved his rebounding in his senior year, ascending to the second spot in the team rankings. He’s also a good perimeter defender who will try to make life difficult for the Longhorn guards.

Freshman Nick Hinton (No. 44) has made an immediate impact, even earning a start in his collegiate debut against USC-Upstate. In his second game, Hinton exploded for 12 points and six boards against UT-Pan American, but he has found less playing time over the team’s last three games.

Junior guard Travonn (Vonn) Jones (No. 1) is a JUCO transfer from Lamar State in Pennsylvania, and his experience gives Coach Davalos even more flexibility in the backcourt. Despite being just 5’11”, Jones can play both the one and the two, and leads the team with nearly four assists per game despite coming off the bench all season.

Freshman Wesley Davis (No. 10) is the final member of Texas State’s core rotation, and he’s averaging almost 16 minutes per game. He’s an athletic guard with a great shot who is going to be integral to the success of the Bobcats when they move to the WAC next season. For now, he provides an excellent scoring option off the bench, shooting nearly 53% from the field and 40% from behind the arc.

Keys to the game

1) Defend the three-point line – The Bobcats are an excellent match-up for the Longhorns, but the long-range shot is the great equalizer in most upsets. Texas State has made 40% of its three-pointers on the year, including an impressive 44.6% mark against D-I opponents. While the Bobcats will likely have a very tough time hanging with Texas tonight, a scoring barrage from behind the arc would certainly make things interesting.

2) Win the rebounding battle – For the first few weeks of the season, we’ve simply been hoping that the Longhorns can be competitive on the glass. Tonight, they should finally be able to post some solid rebounding numbers. The main struggle for the Longhorns has been ending defensive possessions by securing the rebound, but fortunately the Bobcats have had their own problems reclaiming the offensive boards. If the Longhorns still can’t grab defensive rebounds against Texas State, it will be a terrible omen for the rest of the season.

3) Keep the ball moving – The Longhorns have looked their best when moving the ball around quickly and when penetrating with the dribble to open up passing lanes. Against a terrible Texas State defense, Texas should get ample opportunity to fine tune their offensive sets. Look for the Horns to pile up the points and the assists in this one.