The Texas State Bobcats (0-1, 0-1 ATS, 1-0 O/U) clash with the Rhode Island Rams (0-1, 0-1 ATS, 0-1 O/U) in an inter-conference battle on Saturday afternoon. The Bobcats went 21-6 last season and lost to Washington State in their season opener. The Rams posted a 14-15 mark last year and were stunned by Quinnipiac in their first bout of the season.
The Texas State Bobcats are contenders again this season. They finished in first place in the Sun Belt last season but lost early in the conference tournament and the NIT. The program lost a good portion of last year’s starters but is well-coached and will be near the top of the conference. It was a bad start to the year. Texas State was 11.5 point dogs in an 83-61 road loss to Washington State on Monday.
The Bobcats lost the 2021-2022 scoring leader but return Mason Harrell who will carry the load offensively. The senior guard averaged 11.7 PPG on 47.8% shooting last season and was able to collect 17 points in Monday’s defeat. Tyrel Morgan is expected to build on last year’s numbers. The senior forward didn’t play big minutes and finished the year with an average of only 4.2 PPG on a respectable 47.8% mark from the field. Morgan scored 10 points Monday. The Bobcats have many sophomores who are going to be asked to contribute heavily. This includes Brandon Love. The forward only logged 1.4 PPG last year.
A dunk to put @davionsykes22 in double figures
??: https://t.co/zdnqPfMCre#EatEmUp pic.twitter.com/nhnMPPKySR
— Texas State MBB (@TXStateMBB) November 8, 2022
The Bobcats are ranked 189th in the country in Ken Pomeroy’s college basketball ratings and were voted to finish in 2nd place in the Sun Belt preseason poll. They will need many of the younger players to display progress if they want a top-three finish. Texas State wasn’t a high-scoring team last year but was efficient. They averaged 70.7 points, landing them 188th. The defense is their top strength. They limited foes to only 62.5 points last year, good for 25th.