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EDINBURG – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) men's basketball team scored 26 points off of 18 turnovers to beat McNeese State 68-64 on Saturday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
 
At 8-6, UTRGV is now off to its best 14-game start since 2006-07, when the team was also 8-6.
 
Senior Terry Winn III led UTRGV with 13 points, six rebounds, three assists, a career-high tying two blocks and a career-high tying three steals. Winn made a career-high nine free throws in a career-high tying 10 attempts. Sophomore Javon Levi scored 13 points with four assists and three steals. Junior Jordan Jackson finished with 10 points.
 
Shamarkus Kennedy led McNeese State (3-9) with 21 points and eight rebounds.
 
UTRGV jumped out to a 4-2 lead before McNeese State went on a 19-7 run to go up 21-11.
 
UTRGV responded by hitting nine of its next 12 shots as part of a 26-7 run to go up 37-28. The run began with an emphatic dunk by Jackson. Winn andLevi each scored six points during the run while sophomore Greg Bowie II added five. Freshman Uche Dibiamaka capped the run with a layup.
 
McNeese State pulled within 41-38 early in the second half before a Jackson jumper sparked an 8-2 run to put UTRGV up nine again at 49-40.
 
McNeese State answered with a 12-0 run, capped by a Kennedy dunk, to regain the lead at 52-40 with 10:12 remaining. UTRGV regained the lead on a jumper by junior Ndene Gueye. Then, down 54-53, a pair of free throws by graduate student Tyson Smith and a three by junior Lesley Varner II gave UTRGV the lead again.
 
McNeese State came back to tie the game at 62. Then, after free throws put UTRGV up three with about 45 seconds left, UTRGV ran the shot clock down and Levi made a layup at the buzzer to give UTRGV a two-possession lead.
 
UTRGV is back in action on Dec. 28 at 6 p.m. at No. 11 Texas Tech.

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