UTRGV men’s basketball (9-10, 2-5) season comes to an end in a 61-77 loss to the No. 3 seed New Mexico State (11-7, 7-6) Thursday night in the quarterfinal round of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Tournament in Las Vegas.
Midway through the first half, the Vaqueros trailed 10-22 and although the zone defense made it difficult for the Aggies to score in the half court, UTRGV couldn’t collect defensive rebounds to end possessions.
With the extra possession, the Aggies shot 47% from the field on 17 attempts and 50% from deep on eight tires through the first 9:51 of the game.
The Aggies continued to push towards a 39–24 lead at the break as the Vaqueros shooting struggles, that plagued them in their last two matches of the regular season against Tarleton State, continued as they sunk 42% of their shots and only made one long bomb.
New Mexico State kept on their thunderous pace as they extended their lead, 50-30, through the first five minutes of the second half.
The Vaqueros shoot struggles would continue as they finished with shooting splits of 39%, 11% and 63% for the second half as they never got within single digits of the Aggies.
Graduate forward Jeff Otchere led UTRGV with 15 points, 11 coming in the second half, to go along with two blocks.
New Mexico State also won the battle of the boards, out rebounding UTRGV 38-24. In a postgame news conference via Zoom, Vaquero senior guard Javon Levi ultimately said that was the biggest reason for the loss.
“We didn’t execute as far as rebounding,” Levi said. “That was really the game tonight. I think if we would have rebounded it would and gave them less second chance opportunities, I think the game would have been a lot tighter.”
Levi in his final collegiate game finished with 12 points, six assists and four rebounds and was one of the main contributors to the perception around the country of the UTRGV basketball program, a change that he has also noticed over his four years.
“It was good to see the improvement over the years, since my freshman year, how everything has improved around the program and around the city” he said. “From getting more fans, to just winning more games, to just getting more notoriety, building the culture, people knowing what to expect when you come to play us.”
The Vaqueros have endured a hardship-filled season like no other but continued to play through the death of Head Coach Lew Hill, Winter Storm Uri and a global pandemic.
Interim Head Coach Jai Steadman was proud of how his team stayed together through the season’s constant adversity and fought till the end.
“It’s amazing these young men were even out there practicing, competing,” Steadman said. “Just that these young men were out here fighting, [Assistant] Coach [Luke] Mackay said, ‘If these young men in the room are any example of what our future is, our future is really, really bight.’”
The program now heads into an offseason with more questions than answers as it is currently unclear if UTRGV Athletics and Chasse Conque, vice president and director of Athletics, will remove the interim tag from Steadman or move in a different direction.
Steadman also recognizes the uncertainty of the program but will continue at the helm and guide the team through the offseason.
“Business is business,” Steadman said. “I’m sure Chasse will make decisions he has to make. As far as I go, I’ll continue to lead this team and guide the team.”
A main emphasis of Steadman this offseason, after an emotionally draining and taxing 2020-21 campaign, will be to give his team time to grieve and seek the help that they need.
“I need them to breathe, I need them to heal, I need them to exhale, I need them to get counseling, I need them to just put the basketballs away,” he said. “Let’s worry about academics, let’s worry about ourselves mentally and spiritually.”
The Aggies, after a 15-point performance off the bench from junior forward Wilfried Likayi, will advance to the semifinal round and battle against the No. 2 seed and Co-WAC regular season champions, Utah Valley University 10 p.m. CT today.
You can continue to watch the WAC Tournament on ESPN+.
Twitter: @Radio_Rubio
