UTRGV MEN’S BASKETBALL BEATS LAMAR ON LEW HILL TRIBUTE NIGHT
RIO GRANDE VALLEY – On a night during which The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men’s basketball team paid homage to former head coach Lew Hill (1965-21), the Vaqueros posted their highest scoring output of the season to beat the Lamar University Cardinals 93-79 on Wednesday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
UTRGV held a moment of applause before the game, played a tribute video at halftime, and announced fun facts about Coach Hill throughout the game. After the game, the entire UTRGV team went over to Hill’s wife, Renee, and their daughter, Elle, to wish them well.
Graduate student Marek Nelson led the Vaqueros (7-15, 2-8 WAC) with a career-high 30 points and a career-high 10 rebounds for his first-career double-double. Junior Justin Johnson posted his second double-double with 24 points and 10 rebounds. Graduate student Xavier Johnson scored a season-high tying 22 points with a season-high seven assists. Graduate student Mike Adewunmi scored 13 points with eight rebounds. Junior Ricky “Doc” Nelson dished out a career-high 14 assists.
In total, the Vaqueros had a season-high 24 assists on 32 baskets.
C.J. Roberts led the Cardinals (2-20, 0-11 WAC) with 26 points, four assists and four steals. Lincoln Smith scored 18 points with seven rebounds. Kasen Harrison scored 13 points with four assists. Brock McClure scored 11 points with five rebounds.
The Cardinals led 9-5 in the opening minutes. That’s when Marek Nelson connected on a 3 to spark a 14-4 run that put the Vaqueros up 19-13.
The Cardinals pulled within 21-20 midway through the half, but Marek Nelson countered with a layup to start a 10-2 run that gave the Vaqueros a 31-22 lead.
The Cardinals closed to within three late in the half before a pair of Justin Johnson free throws gave the Vaqueros a 42-37 lead going into the break.
The Cardinals took the lead early in the second half, going up 51-49.
Xavier Johnson nailed a pair of deep 3-pointers to fuel a 22-6 run to put the Vaqueros up 71-57.
The Vaqueros led by as much as 16, including at 86-72 on a Marek Nelson layup with 2:18 remaining.
UTRGV visits Abilene Christian on Saturday at 3 p.m. Fans can watch in the United States on ESPN+ or internationally on the WAC Digital Network.
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