EDINBURG, Texas -- Tre'Larenz Nottingham had 19 points and Nijal Pearson added 16 as Texas State held off a late rally to beat UT Rio Grande Valley 77-68 to win its eighth straight game on Saturday night.

Texas State (10-1) is off to its best start since 1952-53 when the Bobcats also opened the season 10-1.

Eric Terry contributed 15 points and Alex Peacock chipped in 10 while Jaylen Shead pulled down 10 rebounds and dished out five assists for the Bobcats.

Texas State led 39-35 at the half, pushed that to 57-41 before UT Rio Grande Valley rallied to close to 57-46 after a Johnny Crnogorac jumper at the 12:16 mark. Terry answered with a jump shot and the Bobcats pushed their advantage to 65-52 at the 8:02 mark. The Vaqueros rallied again to close to 73-67 after Lesley Varner II drained a 3 with 36 seconds remaining.

Shead and Peacock made four free throws in the final seconds to secure the win.

Varner had 20 points and seven rebounds for the Vaqueros (7-5).