Game Notes

CONWAY – The Coastal Carolina University men's basketball team will host consecutive games this week beginning with Thursday, Feb. 6 when Texas State visits the HTC Center at 7 p.m. ET.
 
The Chanticleers stopped their recent four-game slide with an 83-77 win at Arkansas State last Saturday. With the win the Chants will enter Thursday's affair at 12-11 overall and 5-7 in Sun Belt action.
 
CCU will be facing a tough task as Texas State (14-9/7-5 Sun Belt) is currently one of the hottest teams in the Sun Belt to the HTC Center. The Bobcats have won seven of its last nine games which started with a 78-66 win over CCU in San Marcos, Texas back on Jan. 9.
 
Texas State brings a balanced offensive team to CCU as only one person is averaging in double figures while as a team the Bobcats are averaging over 72 points per game.
 
The Bobcats boast arguably the best player in the Sun Belt in senior Nijal Pearson. His 19.4 scoring average is the Sun Belt's best as he is shooting 42.3 percent from the field and 38.0 on his three-point attempts, which ranks sixth and fifth in the Sun Belt respectively. He is also one of the top free throw shooters in the conference connecting on 79 percent of his charity tosses, which is eighth in the league.
 
While the Bobcats offense is improved over last year, it continues to be the defense that carries Texas State. Opponents are only averaging a conference-low 63.6 points per game. The defense is also only allowing its opponents to shoot 39.8 percent from the field on the season, the second-lowest in the Sun Belt this season.
 
CCU will counter Texas State's stout defense with its offense which is second in the league in scoring 78.2 points per game and shooting over 44 percent from the field.
 
The Chants also have one of the league's top players in sophomore DeVante' Jones. He leads the team and is fourth in the Sun Belt with a 16.2 points per game average. He is first in both assists (122) and in assists per game (5.5), while his 47.6 field goal percentage is third in the league. He is also third in the Sun Belt in free throw percentage at 85.1 percent, eight in both steals at 1.5 steals per game and defensive rebounds with 4.5 per outing, and 17^th in total rebounds per game with an average of 5.3 per contest.
 
The Chants will end the weekend home games with Texas Arlington visiting the HTC Center Saturday, Feb. 8 at 2 p.m. ET.
 
The game can be heard live on WRNN 99.5 FM with links for the video feed and live stats available online at GoCCUsports.com.
 
For complete coverage of CCU men's basketball, follow the Chants on social media @CoastalMBB (Twitter), facebook.com/CCUChanticleers (Facebook), @GoCCUSports (Instagram) or visit the official home of Coastal Carolina Athletics at goccusports.com.