Sparked by a dominant first half on defense, South Alabama led wire-to-wire in a 72-55 victory over Texas State at the Mitchell Center on Thursday night.

The Jaguars (13-13 overall, 5-8 Sun Belt Conference) held the Bobcats to 25 percent shooting in the first 20 minutes, building a 35-18 lead at the break. Texas State (11-15, 4-9) shot better in the second half, but still wound up with almost as many made free throws (17) as field goals (18) in the game.

“To be honest, at times in the first half, some of the defensive possessions we put together, I was surprised,” South Alabama coach Richie Riley said. “I hadn’t seen that intensity. We blew up some screens, we blew up some handoffs, we challenged some shots at the rim, changed some shots and then finished some physical rebounds. … We’ve got to continue improving in those areas, but it was a big step forward and a confidence boost for us to guard the way we did.”

South Alabama got excellent all-around games from three of its guards, with Isiah Gaiter leading the team with 18 points off the bench. Freshman Marcus Millender had 11 points and six assists, while Samuel Tabe scored 13.

The Jaguars also forced 16 turnovers and won the rebounding battle, 27-26 — despite having no player with more than four boards. Texas State did not even crack double-digits scoring until Elijah Tate hit a 3-pointer with 4:27 left before halftime to cut South Alabama’s lead to 26-12.

“The coaches challenged us to play as hard as we can to get stops, get deflections, pressure the ball and the get a rebound in transition,” Gaiter said. “So I think overall, we did a great job of that.”

South Alabama scored the game’s first eight points, and pushed its lead into double digits with a 10-0 run late in the first half that included 3-pointers by Gaiter and Elijah Ormiston. The Jaguars led by as many as 24, and never by fewer than 15 in the second half.

Brandon Love had 13 points for Texas State, with seven of those coming at the free-throw line. The Bobcats attempted just six 3-pointers, making only two.

“They make four 3s a game, so they’re not one of those teams that’s going to kind of run off and hit a bunch of those,” Riley said. “So when you do build a lead, if you can just not foul too much and put them on the free-throw line and give them points with the clock stopped, you’ve probably got a chance to be in pretty good shape as long as you value the ball.”

The victory gave South Alabama a split of the season series with Texas State, which won 74-66 in San Marcos, Texas, on Feb. 1. That defeat was part of the Jaguars’ season-long 5-game losing streak, from which they have distanced themselves after home victories vs. Georgia Southern, Northern Illinois and now the Bobcats.

South Alabama finishes off its four-game homestand vs. Arkansas State on Saturday. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m.