Men’s Basketball Opens SLC Play At UTA Saturday

After winning their third straight game for the first time this season, the Texas State men’s basketball team will look to reach another milestone on Saturday, January 9, when the Bobcats travel to Arlington, Texas to play the UTA Arlington Mavericks in their first Southland Conference game of the 2009-10 season. The game tips off at 1:00 p.m. in Texas Hall on the UTA campus.

Texas State improved its overall record to 6-8 this season when the Bobcats held on for a 69-57 victory against Oklahoma Panhandle State in San Marcos last Tuesday night. The win was Texas State’s ninth straight victory in home games dating back to the 2008-09 season. That is the longest home winning streak for the Bobcats since the 2002-03 season when they opened the year with winning their first 10 home games.

A LOOK AT UTA

UT Arlington enters Saturday’s game with a 7-5 overall record after the Mavericks posted a 90-85 overtime win over Utah Valley and defeated UT Dallas 72-64. The Mavericks are 5-2 in home games this season and have a four-game winning streak at home. UTA also defeated UT Permian Basin 70-47 on Nov. 24 and Texas Wesleyan 101-85 on Dec. 22. The Mavericks opened the season with a victory over Dallas Baptist (88-84 on Nov. 14) before suffering their two losses at home against North Texas and Eastern Washington.

THE COACHES

Texas State is in its fourth season under head coach Doug Davalos, who has a 113-95 career record in his eight seasons as a head coach and a 41-60 mark at Texas State.

Scott Cross is in his fourth season as a head coach at UTA with a career record of 57-48. He was named head coach after serving as an assistant coach at UTA for eight seasons.

UP NEXT

Following Texas State SLC opener at UT Arlington, the Bobcats return home for two Southland Conference games. Texas State plays host to Texas A&M Corpus Christi on Wednesday, January 13 at 7:00 p.m. in Strahan Coliseum. The Bobcats play their second straight home game on Saturday, January 16 when they play host to Central Arkansas in a game that tips off at 4:00 p.m.