South Alabama men’s basketball will begin a four-game homestand on Thursday, February 19, hosting Texas State at the Mitchell Center in Mobile. The game is scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m. CT and will be available for viewing on ESPN+ and radio coverage via the Jags Radio Network.
The Jaguars enter the matchup with a 19–8 overall record and a 9–5 mark in Sun Belt Conference play. Their most recent outing resulted in an 84–80 loss to Marshall, where South Alabama fell behind early after Marshall hit 12 three-pointers in the first half. Despite trailing by as many as 16 points early in the second half, South Alabama narrowed the gap late but was unable to complete the comeback.
Texas State comes into Thursday’s contest with a 17-11 record (9-6 SBC) and is recognized for its defensive pressure, ranking among the top teams nationally with an average of 8.8 steals per game. Kaden Gumbs leads the conference with 55 steals this season, while DJ Hall has posted a field goal percentage of 55.4 percent. The Bobcats are currently on a six-game winning streak that includes victories over Troy, Georgia Southern, and Marshall.
In their previous meeting this season on December 20, Texas State defeated South Alabama by two points after overcoming a significant deficit from the Jaguars. Texas State holds a 13–7 advantage in the all-time series between these programs.
This game marks their final regular-season meeting as conference opponents before Texas State moves to another conference next year.
Chaze Harris of South Alabama was recently named Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week after averaging strong numbers during road wins against Southern Miss and Arkansas State. Harris leads both his team and the conference in scoring averages and reached over 2,000 career points following his performance at Marshall.
Earlier this week against Arkansas State, South Alabama erased an 18-point second-half deficit to win in overtime—a comeback highlighted by Harris converting a four-point play to force overtime.
Head Coach Richie Riley achieved his 150th career win at South Alabama following last week’s victory over Arkansas State. He is now third on the program’s all-time wins list behind Ronnie Arrow and Cliff Ellis.
South Alabama concludes its regular season with four consecutive home games: beginning with Texas State tonight; followed by Troy on Saturday; ULM next Tuesday; then senior night versus Southern Miss on February 27 when five seniors—Chaze Harris, JJ Wheat, Randy Brady, Maxwell Land, and Hantz Louis-Jeune—will be honored.
