Feb. 29, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

Huntsville, Texas - The Texas State Bobcats men's basketball team travels to Huntsville, Texas, where the Bobcats will play a Southland Conference game against Sam Houston State at 7:00 p.m. on March 1. The Bobcats enter the game with a 12-15 overall record, including a 5-9 Southland Conference mark after suffering back-to-back losses against Stephen F. Austin and Texas-San Antonio in San Marcos. Texas State dropped a 74-70 decision to Stephen F. Austin and suffered a 103-96 overtime loss against UTSA.

Sam Houston State has a 20-6 overall record and is 8-5 against Southland Conference teams after splitting its last two games against Texas-Arlington and Stephen F. Austin. The Bearkats defeated UTA 79-65 last Wednesday night after suffering a 79-57 loss at SFA on Feb. 21. The game can be heard on 89.9 FM KTSW or on the internet through Texas State's www.txstatebobcats.com. Website.

This marks the second time this season that Texas State will play Sam Houston State and the Bobcats enter the game with an overall series record of 90-75 against the Bearkats. Texas State enters Saturday night's game looking for its first win at Sam Houston since Feb. 24, 2001, when the Bobcats won a 72-69 decision.

Earlier this season at San Marcos on Feb. 2, Brent Benson came off the bench to score 24 points and lead the Bobcats to a 96-93 win in overtime. Ty Gough recorded a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds, while Corey Jefferson and Brandon Bush scored 12 points each and Brandon Thomas netted 12.

The game featured seven ties and 11 lead changes. The final tie came with Texas State holding an 83-81 lead before Sam Houston's Domas Kvedys made a lay-up to send the game into overtime. The Bobcats struck first in the extra period when Benson nailed a three pointer to give Texas State the lead for good. He nailed another trey with 2:34 left to play to put Texas State up by six before picking up his fifth foul on the next play. Sam Houston did close to within 94-91 with 53 seconds remaining in overtime, but Ryan White made two free throws with 10 seconds left to seal the victory. Ashton Mitchell, who score six of Sam Houston's final eight points in the game, made a lay-up with three seconds left to make the final score 96-93.

Ryan White tallied 16 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Bearkats, while Ashton Mitchell added 14 points, DeLuis Ramirez and Reggie Rawlins scored 12 points each, and Shamir McDaniel netted 11.

Texas State leads the Southland Conference in scoring offense and rebounds per game with averages of 83.4 points and 43.1 rebounds per contest.

Benson On The Books
Brent Benson came within one three-point field goal of tying a Strahan Coliseum record of seven three-point field goals when he made all six of his three-point attempts against Sam Houston State. The junior guard was two treys shy of tying Texas State's overall school record of eight three-pointers that was set by Clay Click in 1990. He has finished in double figures for 17 of Texas State's outings this year, and is currently second on the team in scoring, averaging 13 points a game in off the bench play.

Last season, Brent Holder led the Bobcat reserves in scoring with 216 points off the bench. Benson has shattered that mark with 338 points to date.

Postseason Play
With just two games remaining their schedule, Texas State enters the Sam Houston State contest with a 5-8 league record. Eight teams qualify for the Southland Conference Postseason Tournament, and Texas State remains among 10 teams competing for a spot in the tournament.

Eight teams will qualify for the post season, with the first place teams in each division earning an automatic spot, followed by the next six teams, regardless of division, with the best season record.

Bobcats on the Board
Texas State enters Saturday night's game ranked fourth among Southland Conference teams in rebounding margin during SLC games only after having out-rebounded their opponent in four of their last five games. Texas State out-rebounded Stephen F. Austin 43-38, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 56-38, Lamar 46-29 and McNeese State 48-42. In the other game, the Bobcats were even with UTSA with each team grabbing 37 rebounds.

Texas State at the Free Throw Line
Texas State has shot over 73 percent at the free throw line during three of the last four games. The Bobcats made a season-best 82.4 percent (28-34) of their free throws against UTSA, 81.5 percent (22-27) versus Lamar and 73.5 percent (25-34) at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The only other game in which Texas State made 70 percent of their free throws was at UTSA when the Bobcats shot 72.2 percent (26-36) at the free throw line.

Bobcats from the Field
Texas State made 50.9 percent (29-57) of its field goal attempts against UTSA on Feb. 23 to mark the third time this season the Bobcats have made 50 percent of their field goal attempts. Texas State also made 50.8 percent (32-63) of its shots against Southeastern Louisiana and a season-best 54.3 percent (38-70) against Texas-Pan American.

Bush Exceeds 1,000-Point Plateau
Texas State junior guard Brandon Bush enters the Sam Houston State game with 1,063 career points after scoring a team-high 17 points against Stephen F. Austin. Bush scored his 1,000th point against Lamar, and has scored 48 points in his last three games. Moreover, the guard needs to score just 46 more points to move among the Top 10 career scoring leaders at Texas State.

Double Trouble
Texas State has had three players combined for 12 double-doubles this season and fourth has grabbed 10 rebounds in a game. Brandon Bush, Brandon Thomas and Ty Gough have each recorded a double-double at least three times.

Thomas opened the season with 15 points and 11 rebounds against Huston-Tillotson, and has also recorded 10 points and 10 rebounds against Texas before he tallied 18 points and a career-best 15 rebounds against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

Bush leads the team with five double-doubles to date. The junior registered 23 points and 11 rebounds against Dallas Baptist, He also recorded 12 points and 10 rebounds in the first meeting with Sam Houston State.

Gough has four-career double-doubles under his belt in his first collegiate season. The 6-10 center had 14 points and 10 rebounds against Texas-Pan American. He also scored a season-high 19 points coupled with 13 rebounds on the road against Kennesaw State and recorded 13 points and 13 rebounds game versus Sam Houston State.

Jonathan Sloan has also grabbed 10 rebounds in a game this season.

100 Points Under Doug Davalos
In head coach Doug Davalos' first game at Texas State in 2006, the Bobcats recorded over 100 points with a 106-93 victory against Dallas Baptist. That was the most points scored by the Bobcats until Texas State recorded a 113-87 victory over Paul Quinn on Dec. 30, 2007.

The win over Paul Quinn not only marks the highest point total in the Davalos era, but it fell just three points shy of Texas State's school record of 116 set in 1980 under Dan Wall when the Bobcats played Texas Lutheran.

90 Wins For Doug Davalos
Head coach Doug Davalos enters the Sam Houston State game with 93 career wins. The Bobcats gave him his 90th career win with a 93-84 victory over Nicholls State.

That win also tied last year's win total of nine, and the Bobcats enter Saturday night's game with 12 wins this season.

What Lies Ahead
After traveling to Sam Houston State, Texas State will return home for its final regular season game in 2007-08 when the Bobcats play host to Texas-Arlington on March 8. Texas State will have a special Senior Appreciation Ceremony at the UTA contest.