SAN MARCOS, Texas - The Prairie View A&M men's basketball team dropped a 75-48 decision to Texas State Tuesday evening at Strahan Arena.
Junior Lenell Henry led Prairie View A&M with 10 points and five boards. Junior Dajuan Madden added seven points, four rebounds and four assists.
Texas State's Nijal Pearson scored a game-high 23 points along with five rebounds.
"I'm shocked... I thought we had a legitimate chance to come in here and be successful but it was was one of those nights where we just got outplayed in every facet," PVAMU Head Coach Byron Smith said. "I thought the gameplan was pretty solid, and we thought they were a team that was going to be good, but it would be a while. We just got outplayed."
Though the Panthers kept pace with the Bobcats in the initial goings, offensive lulls kept them from sustaining their play as the first half progressed. Over a crucial 10-minute stretch, the Panthers were outscored 16-7 as Texas State extended its lead to double-digits with 7:17 left before intermission.
Caleb Coleman knocked down a jumper to briefly cut the Bobcats' advantage to eight, but Texas State responded with a 6-2 run to go ahead by 12. Henry then buried a three-ball to again bring the deficit back to single digits, but the Panthers were outscored 12-6 over the remainder of the half.
A cold-shooting streak ultimately derailed the Panthers' hopes at a comeback, as an eight-minute stretch without a made field goal allowed Texas State to push its lead to as many as 29.
Despite holding the Bobcats without a field goal for the final eight minutes of the game, the Panthers were unable to recover from the deficit.
"We had played so badly... it was a situation we had nothing to lose," Smith said of his team's late-game defense. "So we wanted to play with pride and play with our heart. We have nowhere to go but up. We wanted to try and finish the game with some momentum. We have to keep competing and hope for a better day."
The Panthers shot 18-of-51 (35.3 percent) from the field during the game, compared to Texas State's 24-of-46 (52.2 percent) clip from the floor. Prairie View A&M was just 6-of-23 (26.1 percent) shooting during the second half.
Next up, the Panthers will head to Austin to face Texas on Friday, Nov. 15, for a 7 p.m. matchup.
"We have to try and sustain the confidence that we came into this game with," Smith said on preparing for the Longhorns. "I still think we're a confident team and that we're going to have a good year. Another thing we have to do is slow it down a little bit. We're not going to be able to play at the pace Texas plays with. We have to slow it down and move the ball a little bit... we've got our work cut out for us."
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