RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's basketball team used strong defense and got a double-double from junior
Koree Cotton to defeat the Austin Peay Governors 63-50 on Sunday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse, where fans tossed 369 stuffed animals as part of the Teddy Bear Toss, presented by Driscoll Children's Hospital.
Cotton led the Vaqueros (3-5) with a career-high 22 points, a career-high 10 rebounds and three blocks. Junior
Always Wright scored 10 points with five rebounds and four assists. Graduate student
Zae Blake and junior
Filip Brankovic each added six points each.
The Governors (4-5) got 19 points from Rashaud Marshall to go along with eight rebounds. Tate McCubbin scored 16 points with four rebounds and four assists, and Zyree Collins added nine points. Austin Peay's leading scorer on the season, Collin Parker, was held to six points on 2-of-12 shooting while the Governors were held to 32% from the floor and 13% from beyond the arc.
With the game tied at 46 and just under six minutes to play, the Vaqueros clamped down their defense holding the Governors to just four points while scoring 17 points on their way to the victory.
After Collins scored on a fastbreak layup, the Vaqueros used a 9-0 run to push their lead to 59-48. McCubbin knocked down a pair of free throws to cap Austin Peay's scoring before sophomore
Jaylen Washington made a layup and Wright knocked down a pair of free throws to put the game away.
The Vaqueros took advantage of space in the paint early in the game as they got buckets from Cotton and Blake that helped them take the 7-4 lead. After a layup from freshman
Julien Gomez that gave the Vaqueros the 9-8 lead, the Governors went on a 15-4 run to grab the 23-13 lead with 8:05 left in the half.
Freshman
Demarris Winters knocked down a three-pointer to kick start UTRGV's comeback. Cotton scored four-straight before knocking down a three-pointer with 2:05 left in the half that got UTRGV within 29-26.
Wright knocked down a jumper to get within one and then it was McGhee III with a three-pointer to give the Vaqueros the 31-30 lead going into halftime.
The Vaqueros came out of the locker room with the same momentum they ended the first half as they got a jumper from Wright, a layup from Brankovic, and a three-pointer from Cotton to push their lead to 38-30.
The Governors had an answer of their own as they went on a 10-0 run to regain the lad at 40-38 before the Vaqueros took the lead right back with jumpers from Wright and Winters. Austin Peay countered with Collins' six-straight points before UTRGV shutdown the Governors down the stretch.
The Vaqueros are back in action on Dec. 11 when they host UT Arlington at 6:30 p.m. at the UTRGV Fieldhouse. Fans can purchase tickets at
UTRGVTickets.com. Students get in free with a valid student ID but will need to claim a ticket at
GoUTRGV.com/StudentTickets. A
clear bag policy is in place for all UTRGV Athletics venues.
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