UTRGV men’s basketball (3-2) three-game winning streak comes to an end on the road as they fall 81-68 against Texas A&M University (3-0) on Sunday at Reed Arena.
UTRGV was able to run out to a quick 6-5 lead on a three-pointer from senior guard Chris Freeman.
Texas A&M quickly regained the lead on a Quenton Johnson three-pointer that sparked a 26-14 run that would culminate for the Aggie’s largest first-half lead of 34-20.
The Aggies ended the first half with a 43-32 lead while shooting over 56% from the field and over 46% from three compared to UTRGV’s 40% from the field and 35% from deep.
To start the second half UTRGV was quickly able to cut the Texas A&M lead to only six, 45-39, from a sophomore guard Quinton Johnson II layup and three-pointer.
Johnson ended the game with a career-high 21 points sinking four three-pointers to go along with a team-high six rebounds.
Over the next 10 minutes, Texas A&M would go on a 23-10 run to increase their lead to 68-49 in which six different Aggies scored including eight of sophomore forward Emmanuel Miller’s team-leading 21 points and 10 rebounds.
Texas A&M also had a strong performance from sophomore guard Andre Gordon who finished the game with 18 points going 8-11 from the field.
Junior Forward Marek Nelson was the second-leading scorer for UTRGV with 10 points off the bench in 15 minutes.
Senior guard Javon Levi left the game midway through the second half with an apparent ankle injury, but no statement has been made by UTRGV Athletics.
UTRGV will have a couple of days to rest before their next matchup on the road at 7 p.m. Thursday against Texas A&M Corpus Christi (1-3) who they beat earlier this season at Bert Ogden Arena 62-59.
For Vaquero Radio, I’m Luis Rubio.
