In the first game since the death of Head Coach Lew Hill, UTRGV (9-4) obliterates Dallas Christian (7-7) in an all-time defensive performance, 116-51, at the Fieldhouse Sunday night.
The Vaqueros honored the legacy of Hill in multiple ways throughout the night as they wore a patch on their jersey that had his initials and, now, famous quote, “peace & love.” The team also wore warm-up shirts that had the patch along with the hashtag RIPLEWHILL and left his seat empty on the bench with a picture, coat and a coaching board with his aforementioned quote.
Direct and extended members of the Hill family were also in attendance as they received a standing ovation from both teams, the officials, UTRGV staff and fans in attendance at the 3:56 mark in the second half during the final media timeout of the match.
After the game, UTRGV players, coaches and staff walked over to the courtside seats and shared the victory with the Hill family.
In a postgame news conference via Zoom, UTRGV Interim Head Coach Jai Steadman explained to the media what this win not only meant for the program but to the Hill family in attendance.
“When I got in the locker room, I said, ‘Thanks guys, you don’t know how much it meant to the Hill family in the front row,’” Steadman said. “This is part of the healing, this is his team, his staff, this is his university, his program, that right there represents Coach Hill and I thanked the guys for competing and doing what Coach Hill has taught us.”
Despite having a career night with 18 points to go along with three rebounds and three assists, UTRGV junior forward Marek Nelson shared similar thoughts to Steadman after the game.
“I look forward to getting to know [the Coach Hill family] and continue to reach out to them and represent them, for this team, for this school, for Coach Hill,” Nelson said. “It means a lot that they were here tonight. I talked to a few of them and they said, ‘Thank you for winning.’ That was their main thing.”
The Vaqueros were in control from the opening tip as they were up 52-21 at halftime as junior forward Sean Rhea had 17 of his total 19 points.
Coming out of break, UTRGV only added to their lead as every player would find the bottom of the net in a 64-point second half.
Hill always harped about the Attack with Discipline (AWD) defense that he wanted his team to play with and they did just that by forcing a program-record 27 steals, a season-high 47 turnovers and scored 48 points off of those miscues by the Crusaders.
In addition, junior guard LaQuan Butler set a new career-high in the scoring department with 22 points on 8-11 shooting from the field and 4-6 from deep.
Both Weslaco natives graduate guard Nick Mora and sophomore guard Isaiah Garcia entered the game and ended with three and five points, respectively.
In lieu of the strong victory, Steadman acknowledged how in the two, emotional, weeks leading up the game he also received helped and words of advice and encouragement not only from other head coaches in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) such as Chris Jans of New Mexico State University and Billy Gillispie of Tarleton State but past mentors such as former Nebraska Head Coach Danny Nee; former UTRGV women’s basketball Head Coach Larry Tidwell and current Lamar University Head Coach Tic Price.
Steadman also took time to highlight the coaching staff the Hill left behind and their role in helping the team during these trying times.
“My coaching staff has been great. Luke Mackay, Kenya Crandell, Chris Lowe, Jacob Galindo, the managers, the entire staff here is just one unit that Coach Hill put together.,” he said. “I’m not doing this by myself. I need everybody in a circle, and we are one heartbeat and we beat as one.”
UTRGV will return to WAC play as they will face Utah Valley University at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday in Orem, Utah.
You can watch the game live on the WAC Digital Network at wacdigitalnetwork.com.
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