KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) men's basketball team fell to UMKC 83-79 on Saturday at Municipal Auditorium.
 
Freshman Xavier McDaniel Jr. led UTRGV (9-10, 1-1 WAC) with 20 points on 8-of-15 shooting, including 2-of-5 from behind the arc, with four rebounds and three steals. Sophomore Lew Stallworth scored 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting with four assists and four steals. Junior Nick Dixon scored 15 points with nine rebounds, four assists and four steals. Sophomore Antonio Green scored nine points while hitting two three-pointers, raising his NCAA-leading total to 78.
 
LaVell Boyd led UMKC (8-10, 1-1 WAC) with 17 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Isaiah Ross also scored 17 points. Dashawn King finished with 12 points and four assists.
 
UTRGV jumped out to a 5-2 lead on the power of a Dixon three and a layup by junior Dan Kimasa.
 
UMKC scored the next seven points, including a Boyd three, to take the lead, and UMKC maintained a lead of no more than three until the mid-point of the half. That's when McDaniel hit back-to-back three-pointers and two free throws to put UTRGV up 24-19.
 
Three-pointers by King and Ross helped UMKC regain the lead at 28-27, but a Dixon layup gave UTRGV the lead right back. Then, after another Ross three, Green knocked down a three and junior Gage Loy came up with a tip-in to put UTRGV up 34-31 with 2:56 to go.
 
UMKC scored the next seven points to take the lead and went up by as many as seven on a Boyd three that made it 48-41 and on a pair of Boyd free throws that made it 55-48 during the opening minutes of the second half.
 
UTRGV chipped away and was down four with seven and a half minutes remaining when Stallworth hit a layup, two free throws and a jumper to fuel a 10-0 run to put UTRGV up 71-65 with 5:07 left.
 
UMKC responded with an 11-2 run to go ahead 76-73 before Dixon tied the game with a three-point play with 1:38 remaining.
 
Broderick Robinson hit a three 19 seconds later and King made a free throw to put UMKC up four, but Green made three free throws to make it 80-79 with 32 seconds left. Xavier Bishop and Boyd, however, combined to hit three free throws to end the game.
 
UTRGV plays its WAC home opener on Thursday at 7 p.m. against CSU Bakersfield in game that will be televised throughout Texas on Spectrum Sports channel 323. The first 200 fans in attendance will receive UTRGV basketball t-shirts. Doors open at 6.

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