Men’s basketball began its 2021-22 season at 7 p.m. last Wednesday with a game against the University of Texas at Tyler Patriots.The Vaquero’s came away with a dominant 101-72 victory over the Patriots at the UTRGV fieldhouse in Edinburg.
Though the game was an exhibition match and will not count towards Vaquero’s season record, it is a strong start to the season.
After the game, UTRGV’s head men’s basketball coach Matt Figger spoke at a press conference hosted by UTRGV athletics.
“We were so short handed, we were extremely nervous, and I thought once we got past the second media time-out that we started imposing our will on them…”
This season will be UTRGV’s first season back towards normalcy as games this season are projected to be allowed at full capacity. Whatever pregame jitters the Vaquero’s may have felt before the game did not last long as they went on to rout the Patriots.
“They’re a well coached team. So they came in with a good game plan, and they attacked us early, and we got punched but we didn’t fall down. And I thought once we got through the jitters, basically, I felt like we got in control..”
Going into the second half the Vaqueros had played a good game scoring 48 points and giving up only five turnovers. The first half magic did not eclipse the woes they faced in the second half as UTRGV gave free points to UT Tyler in the form of penalties.
“We let them earn points from the free throw line, we can’t do that. We had shot 23 free throws in the first half, and we stayed in attack mode, but we fouled and let them get the highest yielding point you could possibly get, which is a freethrow.”
Despite the few negatives they faced, the game was a good indicator of where the Vaquero’s are at from a competitive and mental standpoint. Resilient through their struggles, UTRGV won by a 29 point margin.
Scoring leader for the game was Junior Justin Johnson with 20 points. Redshirt Junior Ricky “Doc” Nelson scored 14 himself with nine assists and two steals. The next highest stat line was from Junior LaQuan Butler who scored 14 points and tallied four assists. Players who also carried the Vaqueros to their victory included grad students Mike Adewunmi, Xavier Johnson, and Marek Nelson as well as Sophomore Quinton Johnson II.
Doc Nelson spoke at the press conference right after coach Figger and gave his outlook on the game.
“Well us as a team we all felt excited, maybe a little too excited, just some careless turnovers and stuff, but we were so ready to get out there and play for the fans. We had seen the fans earlier at the tailgate and I think that’s what got us riled up.”
The Vaquero’s have their first official game of the season this Tuesday, Nov. 9 at 7 p.m. at the UTRGV fieldhouse in Edinburg against the Texas A&M International University Dustdevils. The game will be open to the public and will also be featured on the Wac Digital Network and ESPN+.
This is Aaron Vasquez with Vaquero Radio.
