UTRGV loses two games during Homecoming Week
Victoria Gonzalez | Vaquero Radio
UTRGV suffered two back-to-back losses during its Homecoming Week celebration against UT Arlington Saturday and Abilene Christian University Thursday.
The Vaqueros are now 6-19 overall and 2-12 in WAC play.
Men’s basketball lost 89-70 Saturday against UT Arlington and fell 87-79 to the Abilene Christian University Wildcats Thursday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
For Thursday’s game, the Vaqueros were still within four at 82-78 with 1:12 remaining, but they soon fell behind.
Before the game, junior guard Ellijah Elliot shares how he and his fellow teammates worked hard during their practices for a week since their last game against Stephen F. Austin University.
UTRGV junior guard Hasan Abdul-Hakim suffered a foot injury on Jan. 18 during the loss against UT Arlington and was ready to hop back onto the court. However, Figger says he did not expect Abdul-Hakim to return so swiftly.
“I didn’t expect him to be available,” he said. “He hadn’t played a game in, you know, over a month, so I knew he’d be rusty. I don’t know if this is a one-game deal or what. I don’t know what his foot’s gonna feel like tomorrow, and, you know, I give him credit. He wanted to try to step up through the injury.”
Head coach Matt Figger says the team’s defense strategies ultimately contributed to the loss.
“We played middle-school defense,” Figger said. “Defense was awful, nonexistent. This was a game of heart. They had more heart than we did. They played with a tougher edge. We weren’t very good defensively.”
As the UTRGV Men’s Basketball Team has only two conference wins, Figger says the only way to improve is to have more heart.
“Heart, commitment, I mean all those words that we like to say in sports,” he said. “Believing in one another. It goes back to the lack of leadership, and it starts with me.”
Figger adds the team gave the game away by feeling sorry for itself and pointing fingers.
“The game’s not over,” he said. “It’s not like they’re coming in on this crazy winning streak. It was a battle of who had the most heart and will. They had it, and we didn’t.”
Figger elaborates on things he will emphasize moving forward for future games.
“It just comes down to the guy’s character,” he said. “That’s all: character. Character, heart, toughness, resiliency, testicular fortitude, you know. Whatever analogy you wanna use, that’s all it boils down to.”
The Vaqueros will hit the road to take on the Utah Valley Wolverines at 7 p.m. Thursday in a conference game.
For more information, visit goutrgv.com.
This is Victoria Gonzalez for Vaquero Radio.
