Arkansas State's men had trouble keeping its grip on the ball Saturday.
Because of that, the Red Wolves let an opportunity to solidify their spot in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament slip away.
ASU committed 24 turnovers, including 13 in the first half, and Texas State shot 48 percent from the field in beating the Red Wolves 70-60 at Strahan Coliseum in San Marcos, Texas.
The loss dropped the Red Wolves (11-16, 6-12) out of the eighth and final spot for the Sun Belt Tournament, which begins March 12 in New Orleans. They have only two games remaining to make up the ground.
Anthony Livingston scored 20 points and had 13 rebounds, his 14th game this season with 10 or more in both categories, while Cameron Golden scored 12 points and Frederic Dure had 11.
ASU and Texas State (13-14, 7-11) entered Saturday tied in the league standings. A victory would have given ASU a one-game lead and a season sweep of the Bobcats. Instead, ASU Golden and Dure combined for 11 turnovers, Sean Gardner had 3 and Texas State scored 32 points off ASU's 24 turnovers.
Gilden Tilbury led the Bobcats with 19 points, while Ethan Montalvo had 12 and Wesley Davis had 11.
Texas State, which lost to ASU 78-73 on Jan. 17 in Jonesboro, jumped to a 17-3 lead as the Red Wolves had six turnovers in the first eight minutes. ASU twice cut the deficit to five points, but trailed 34-23 at halftime.
ASU trailed by 10 points or more for the first 13 minutes of the second half, before Charles Waters made two free throws to cut the deficit to 54-46 with 6:21 left. Texas State then responded with an 8-3 spurt to go up 62-49, and ASU didn't threaten again.
The loss came after ASU had won consecutive Sun Belt games for the first time this season. It was ASU's seventh Sun Belt loss by 10 or more points.
The Red Wolves are now in 10th place in the conference standings, one game behind Texas State and South Alabama, which are tied for the final spot heading into the tournament.
Sports on 03/01/2015