Final Stats | Quotes | Notes

SAN MARCOS, Texas -- Texas State used a 23-2 second half run to break open a tight game and hand UTA its first loss in nearly two months with a 81-73 Sun Belt Conference victory Saturday at Strahan Coliseum.

The Mavericks, which had their 11-game streak snapped, fell to 12-4 on the season and 2-1 in league play. Texas State improved to 9-6 overall and 2-1 against Sun Belt opponents.

UTA junior Kevin Hervey led all scorers with a season-high 25 points on 8-of-15 shooting. Junior point guard Erick Neal and senior Jalen Jones also scored in double-figures for UTA, which fell to Texas State in San Marcos for the first time after 5-straight wins.

Kavin Tilbury-Gilder led Texas State with 21 points, while three other Bobcats scored in double figures.

Texas State shot 55.1 percent in the game, including a blistering 63 percent in the first half.

Key Storylines
First Half: Texas State led by as many as 10 points in the first half, largely due to its hot shooting. The Bobcats made 75 percent of their field goal attempts over the first 14:41, going 15-of-20 from the field. The Mavs opened the game with four turnovers and two missed shots over the first 2:23 to allow Texas State to jump out to an early 8-2 lead. Eventually, the Mavs turned things around. UTA did not commit a turnover over the final 18 minutes and, eventually, found its shooting touch - the Mavs shot 52 percent from the field in the first half, 54 percent after starting the game 2-for-5.

Second Half: After UTA grabbed an 8-point lead with 16:36 left in the game, Texas State regained its shooting touch. The Bobcats went on an 18-1 run over the next 7 minutes, making six of eight field goal attempts en route to a 60-51 lead. During that same stretch, UTA went 0-for-8 from the field. The run eventually stretched to 23-2.

Next Game
The Mavericks remain on the road next weekend when they travel to Alabama to face Troy on Saturday, January 14 and South Alabama on Monday, Jan. 16. UTA returns to College Park Center on Jan 21 to face ULM in a 4:30 p.m. tipoff. Tickets are available by calling the UTA Box Office at (817) 272-9595 or visiting UTATickets.com.

The 2017 Sun Belt Conference Men's and Women's Basketball Championships are scheduled for a week of March Madness in the Big Easy. New Orleans will once again be home to the two championships that will take place at Lakefront Arena from March 7-12 and ticket books can now be purchased from your school's ticket office. For more information, visit the Sun Belt Conference's championship central websites - Men's Championship - Women's Championship - and be sure to follow the #FunBelt on social media - @SunBelt.