RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's basketball team learned on Friday that juniors Koree Cotton and Filip Brankovic have earn Southland All-Conference honors.
 
Cotton earned First Team All-Conference honors and was also named to the Southland Conference All-Defensive Team. Cotton leads the team with 13.6 points and 5.1 rebounds per game, which ranks 12^th and 15^th in the Southland Conference (SLC), respectively
 
Cotton started in all 31 games and is shooting 47.1% from the floor while shooting 40.5% from three-point range. He ranks sixth in the SLC with 35 blocks and has recorded 30 steals this season.
 
Cotton has averaged 14.7 points, which ranks him ninth, with 5.3 rebounds in SLC play. Cotton has scored in double-figures in 25 games, including six games of 20 or more points and has led the team in scoring nine times and in rebounds 10 times.
 
Brankovic earned Second Team All-Conference honors after averaging 12.8 points per game, which ranks 13^th in the SLC. Brankovic is shooting 52.4% from the floor, which ranks second in the SLC, while shooting 33.7% from three-point range and 82.5% from the free throw line.
 
In SLC play, Brankovic raised his scoring average to 14.0 points per game while grabbing 4.4 rebounds per game. He has played and started in 30 games while scoring double-figures 22 times, including a career-high 29 points against UIW. Brankovic has led the team in scoring eight times, rebounds nine times, and assists three times. 
 
The Vaqueros finished the regular season with an 18-13 overall regular season record and set a program record with 14 Southland Conference wins en route to a No. 3 seed in the SLC Tournament. 
 
The Vaqueros finished the regular season with a program record 126^th KenPom ranking and a NET ranking of 137, both third in the SLC.
 
The Vaqueros will face the winner between No. 6 Nicholls and No. 7 Northwestern State in the Quarterfinals of the SLC Tournament on Monday at 7:30 p.m. at the Townsley Law Arena in Lake Charles, La.

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