RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's basketball team defeated the Texas A&M-Kingsville (TAMUK) Javelinas, 81-51, Monday in the season opener at the UTRGV Fieldhouse as
Brandon Chambers picked up his first win as the Vaqueros head coach.
Junior
Caden Bell and senior
B.B. Knight led UTRGV (1-0, 0-0 Southland Conference) with 14 points each. Bell made a trio of three-pointers and had two steals while Knight had three rebounds and two threes. Redshirt junior
Jace Posey scored 12 points with seven rebounds, a career-high four assists, and a career-high tying two steals, dropping nine of those points in the second half. Redshirt junior
T'Johnn Brown tabbed a career-high tying three steals. Senior
Terrell Wright had four blocks, six rebounds and four points.
Logan Gonzalez paced TAMUK with nine points and six rebounds.
Vejas Matekonis and
Oren Bowens Jr. scored eight each with five and three rebounds, respectively.
The Vaqueros got things started with a toughness type play as senior
Devon Pryor drove hard to the basket and finished through contact for the three-point play. Knight scored five in a row with a layup off the glass and a corner three to get the Vaqueros rolling, then added another three to cash in a turnover and extend the advantage to 16-2. UTRGV went on a 17-0 run as it kept the Javelinas scoreless for over six minutes behind aggressive defense and relentless rebounding, building a 20-2 lead.
Texas A&M-Kingsville turned up the defensive pressure and kept the Vaqueros off the board for a four-minute stretch, forcing turnovers and getting stops. The Javelinas knocked down back-to-back threes to get within 11 during the strong run, but Bell and Brown swung momentum back in the home team's favor. Bell hit a needed three-pointer off an assist by Brown, then Brown cleaned up a miss after Bell swiped a steal with tight full-court pressure and went straight to the hoop. Redshirt senior
Always Wright drilled his second three of the half to put the Vaqueros up by 20.
Bell continued to impress, facilitating the fast-paced offense and knocking down another pair of three-pointers to grow the gap to 41-15. UTRGV controlled the boards and pushed the tempo constantly, leaving the Javelinas gassed and a step behind. The Vaqueros took a 42-19 lead into the locker room at halftime with 16 points off the bench.
Sophomore
Bobby Crawford Jr. opened the second half with a dunk and followed that up with points off a turnover as Posey tabbed a steal. Crawford had six quick points to open the frame and added a rebound to setup another exciting Vaqueros play. Crawford passed it up to Pryor, who lobbed an alley-oop pass to the high-flying Posey. Posey finished the dunk through contact, extending the lead to 50-21 and getting the crowd fired up.
UTRGV's energetic style kept the Javelinas scrambling to keep up. Defensively, the Vaqueros used active hands to deflect passes and knock away shots and dribbles. UTRGV totaled 12 steals and seven blocks behind its hounding defense. Wright recorded a block between strong finishes at the hoop to help the Vaqueros open up a 56-23 cushion before the Javelinas drilled two consecutive three-pointers. Posey ended the brief scoring drought with a dunk and scored four in a row for the Vaqueros before Uwayo showed his swift skills to weave through traffic and make back-to-back layups.
TAMUK controlled the boards in the second half and made four threes while the Vaqueros went 1-for-12 from deep to continue battling. But the Vaqueros scored 14 points off turnovers and stayed in control with their speedy play. Freshman
Kaleb Corbitt nailed a three for his first collegiate points to put a cap on the big opening night.
The Vaqueros will be back at the UTRGV Fieldhouse Saturday for a 4:30 p.m. tipoff against Prairie View A&M. Fans can purchase tickets at
UTRGVTickets.com. All tickets for UTRGV Athletics home events will use NFC scanning, therefore screenshots will not grant entry. Fans can save and access tickets for entry via Apple or Google Wallet or by logging into your account at
UTRGVTickets.com.
Fans are encouraged to visit
RallyTheValley.com for everything they need to know about attending home basketball games. If you're unable to attend, the game will be streamed on
ESPN+ domestically and
Southland International for international fans.
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