March 12, 2009

Katy, Texas -

Complete Release in PDF Format

The Texas State men's basketball team will travel to Katy, Texas on Thursday, Mar. 12, when the Bobcats play Nicholls in the first round of the 2009 State Farm Southland Conference Tournament in Merrell Center at Noon. The Bobcats enter the tournament with a 14-15 overall record this season and will be the seventh seed in the tournament after posting a 7-9 record against SLC teams. Nicholls enters the tournament with a 19-10 overall record and the Colonels were 12-4 in league games during the regular season.

Texas State returns to the Southland Conference Tournament for the first time since 2005 when the Bobcats lost a first-round game 75-58 at Southeastern Louisiana. The Bobcats enter this year's tournament having won four of their last six games after suffering a 92-82 loss at Sam Houston State on Mar. 7. The loss followed a pair of wins against UTSA and Northwestern State with an 80-66 victory over the Roadrunners and a 98-65 triumph over the Demons. Texas State's other loss in their last six contests was a 68-52 setback at Stephen F. Austin, and that came after a 71-66 overtime win over Nicholls on Feb. 21 and a 71-67 win at Lamar on Feb. 14.

Nicholls rebounded from its overtime loss at Texas State with four straight wins as the Colonels edged Central Arkansas 60-58 in Conway, McNeese State 80-76, and UT Arlington 79-77. The Colonels finished the regular season with a 50-36 victory at Lamar last Saturday night.

ON THE AIR
Texas State's first round game against Nicholls can be heard live on KTSW (89.9 FM) throughout the San Marcos area and on Texas State's athletic website, www.txstatebobcats.com. Veteran Bobcat announcer Bill Culhane calls the play-by-play, while Dalton Sweat provides color commentary.

ON TELEVISION
Texas State's first round The first round of the SLC Tournament will not be televised, but the semifinals will be shown live on the Southland Conference Television Network on Friday night. Doug Anderson will call the play-by-play, while Jim Haller will serve as the analyst. The semifinal games can be seen on Time Warner Cable channel 77 in Austin and channel 50 in San Antonio, Grande Communications channel 17 on the Texas State campus, and on ESPN Full Court.

THE SERIES
Texas State's first round Saturday game will mark the 50th meeting between Texas State and Nicholls and the Bobcats have a 28-21 series record against the Colonels in a series after winning a 71-66 overtime decision in San Marcos on Feb. 21, 2009.

The marks the third time that the two schools have met in the Southland Conference Tournament and each of the first two times the winner has gone on to win the SLC Tournament.

In the 1994 SLC Tournament, Texas State defeated Nicholls 68-65 in the semifinals before beating North Texas 69-60 in the championship game. In 1998, the Colonels won a semifinal game 79-71 before beating UT Arlington 84-81 in the championship contest.