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Texas State Uses A Balance Attack To Beat Northern Colorado 82-59
Jan. 6, 2009
San Marcos, Texas- - The Texas State men's basketball team used a balanced offensive attack and strong defensive effort to avenge an earlier loss this season and beat Northern Colorado 82-59 in Strahan Coliseum Tuesday night. The Bobcats had four players score in double figures and four players grab each grab five rebounds as the held a 41-31 rebounding advantage. Senior guard Corey Jefferson scored a season-high 16 points to and grabbed five rebounds, while Cameron Johnson and Brandon Bush added 14 points each and Brent Benson added 11 points off the bench. Ty Gough led Texas State with seven rebounds, while Johnson and Dylan Moseley added six each. Defensively, Texas State held the Bears to 40.9 percent shooting from the field, including just 15.4 percent behind the three-point line, after Northern Colorado came into the game ranked eighth nationally in three-point shooting as a team. The Bobcats also forced 24 turnovers and collecting seven steals. "This was a great team win for us," Texas State head coach Doug Davalos said. "We went out, attacked them defensively and the results speak for themselves. "They are a very good three-point shooting team, but we contested most of their three-point shots and made them look for the second and third options on offense. It was a great team effort all the way around."
The Bobcats jumped out to a 9-0 lead in the first three minutes and led 28-14 with 11:55 remaining in the first half as Texas State hit 10 of their first 15 shots from the field including all four of their three-point attempts, and all four of their free throw attempts. The Bobcats used an inside-outside attack offensively to seize control of the game as Corey Jefferson opened the game hitting both of his three-point shots and Brandon Bush and Ty Gough each scored four points in the paint to pace Texas State's early efforts. John Rybak added a three-pointer of his own while Cameron Johnson made a baseline jumper. Northern Colorado looked like they were going to get back into contention when Texas State had a four-minute scoring drought and the Bears climbed back to within 37-26 with 3:33 remaining in the first half. But, Texas State closed the half with a 7-2 run to take a 44-28 lead at the half and never looked back. The second half began just like the first half did with Bush scoring on a three-point lead to open up a 47-28 lead. The Bears tried to get back into contention, but every time they looked like they might get back into contention, Texas State had an answer. The Bobcats held a 61-41 lead with 14:00 minutes left to play when Northern Colorado scored five straight points to close to within 15. But, Benson hit one of his two free throws for Texas State and Jefferson nailed a trey to push the lead right back to 65-45 with 10:06 left to play. "I thought it was important that we didn't relax and let them back into the game like we might have in the past," Davalos said. "We continued playing aggressively and there was no let down tonight." The Bears never threatened again as the Bobcats went on to win 82-59 to avenge a 105-93 loss at Northern Colorado earlier this year. The win was Texas State's fourth straight win as the Bobcats improved their record to 7-6, while Northern Colorado suffered its third straight loss and fell to 5-11 overall this season. Texas State will open its Southland Conference schedule this Saturday against Texas-Arlington at 4:00 p.m. in Strahan Coliseum. |
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