Texas MBB takes on Texas State at the Moody Center (8PM Tip/LHN)

Texas has won 23 straight in hoops against the Texas State Bobcats, a one-sided series, but one that brings Central Texas together. They lead the series 45-5 overall, and have never really struggled with the scrappy San-Marcos-based team.

The Longhorns are a 19.5-point favorite in this particular matchup, as they're coming off of an absolute decimation of a pretty decent Wyoming team, 86-63. They covered that spread pretty easily – will they cover this spread tonight?

Terrence "TJ" Johnson leads the Bobcats as the head coach, accomplishing impressive feats that the Texas State basketball program hasn't seen in its history. they've won 39 games in the last two seasons, including two Sun Belt regular season championships and an appearance in the NIT.

Like Rodney Terry, Johnson took over the job after exceeding expectations as an interim/acting HC.

He's won a couple of COTY awards in the Sun Belt Conference. He also presided over Texas State's first two all-conference players in the Sun Belt – Caleb Asberry and Mason Harrell.

Now that those to are gone, it's up to the new crew to make noise in their conference.

Last game, sophomore guard Jordan Mason, who had missed the first six games of the season with an injury, came off the bench and scored 21 points, including 8/10 from the FT line. Though he's not their most consistent scorer, he is a guy to which Texas is going to have to pay attention, whether he's coming off the bench or starting.

Unfortunately for the 'Cats, forward Tyrel Morgan, a solid scoring option, was injured against Miami OH earlier this season and won't play tonight.

Forward Brandon Love is another guy for which the 'Horns will need to gameplay. He's putting up 11 points and 7.8 boards per game. Though his shooting isn't spectacularly impressive, sporting 48.8% FG, which isn't super efficient for a player whose game is mostly inside the paint. Defensively, he's impactful as well – averaging a whopping 3.3 blocks per game, more than he averages personal fouls in a given night.

Point guard Kaden Gumbs is the leading assist-man for the Bobcats (4.1 APG), as well as scoring in double digits (10.7 PPG), and collecting some rebounds (4.4 RPG). He's probably their most versatile player, though his shooting numbers are atrocious – 37.3 FG% and 15.4 3P%. These aren't numbers that translate to an efficient offense, and given their lack of team assist numbers (11.3 total per), it shouldn't be difficult for Texas to lock up the perimeter guys and defend the paint.

For Texas to dominate this game, they're going to have to just force Texas State to shoot threes, as they have been putrid from beyond the arc – 25% as a team for the 'Cats.

This is an easily exportable flaw for a team. In football terms, think about Texas' strategy to shut down the run and force the pass against average or bad QBs. This is essentially what Texas will do, packing the paint (aka stacking the box in football) and making dribble penetration very difficult.

Texas fans should feel pretty confident that their win streak over TXST will increase to 24 tonight, as the Bobcats just don't have the heat to hang with the Longhorns.

BEST BET

TEXAS -19.5