2018–19 Texas–Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros men's basketball team

The 2018–19 Texas–Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros men's basketball team represented the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Vaqueros, led by third-year head coach Lew Hill, played their home games at the UTRGV Fieldhouse, with one home game at Bert Ogden Arena, as members of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). With their win on February 28, the Vaqueros clinched a winning regular season record for the first time since the 2007–08 season. They finished the season 20–17, 9–7 in WAC play, to finish in fourth place. They defeated Cal State Bakersfield in the quarterfinals of the WAC tournament before losing in the semifinals to New Mexico State. They were invited to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament where they defeated Grambling State in the first round before losing in the second round to Texas Southern.

2018–19 Texas–Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros men's basketball
CIT, Second round
ConferenceWestern Athletic Conference
Record20–17 (9–7 WAC)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • Jai Steadman
  • Kenya Crandell
  • Luke Mackay
Home arenaUTRGV Fieldhouse
Seasons
2018–19 WAC men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
New Mexico State 15 1   .938 30 5   .857
Utah Valley 12 4   .750 25 10   .714
Grand Canyon 10 6   .625 20 14   .588
Texas–Rio Grande Valley 9 7   .563 20 17   .541
California Baptist* 7 9   .438 16 15   .516
Cal State Bakersfield 7 9   .438 18 16   .529
Seattle 6 10   .375 18 15   .545
UMKC 6 10   .375 11 21   .344
Chicago State 0 16   .000 3 29   .094
*Ineligible for WAC tournament (reclassification from Division II)
2019 WAC tournament winner

Previous season

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They finished the 2017–18 season 15–18, 6–8 in WAC play to finish in fifth place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the WAC tournament to Seattle. They were invited to the College Basketball Invitational where they lost in the first round to New Orleans.

Roster

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2018–19 Texas–Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
G 0 Greg Bowie II (C) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 165 lb (75 kg) So Athlos Leadership Academy San Antonio, TX
C 2 Solomon Hainna 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Sr Palisades
Midland College
Evansville
Inglewood, CA
G 3 Quinton Johnson II 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Fr Centennial HS Oklahoma City, OK
F 3 Terry Winn (C) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 240 lb (109 kg) RS Sr Westwind Preparatory Academy
UTEP
Monroe, LA
F 5 Jamal Gaines 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Fr Universal Academy Dallas, TX
G 10 Nick Mora 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 167 lb (76 kg) Jr Weslaco HS Weslaco, TX
F 11 Lesley Varner II 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr Cedar Hill Dallas, TX
F 12 Ndene Gueye 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 230 lb (104 kg) RS Jr Redemption Christian Academy
Kilgore College
Dakar, Senegal
G 14 Javon Levi 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 165 lb (75 kg) So Shoemaker Killeen, TX
G 15 Uche Dibiamaka 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Fr Second Baptist School Adelaide, Australia
C 20 Johnny Crnograc 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 225 lb (102 kg) RS Sr Marshall Academy
SW Tennessee CC
Sydney, Australia
F 21 Isaiah Fontaine 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Jr Brimmer and May School
Southern
Tyler Junior College
Chelsea, MA
G 22 Jordan Jackson 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) RS Jr St. Pius X
Midland College
Houston, TX
G G Tyson Smith (C) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Sr Westwind Prep
Southern Idaho
Loyola Chicago
Baltimore, MD
G 24 Marlon Williams 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 188 lb (85 kg) Fr United Laredo, TX
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: June 5, 2024

Schedule and results

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The Vaqueros's schedule was released on August 7, 2018.[1] The team played a two-game foreign exhibition series in Costa Rica in August.[2]

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Costa Rica Foreign Tour
Aug 18, 2018*
7:30 p.m.
vs. Coopenae San Ramon ARBA W 85–56 
 
San José, Costa Rica
Aug 19, 2018*
7:30 p.m.
Costa Rica national team W 87–68 
 
San José, Costa Rica
Regular season
November 6, 2018*
7:00 p.m., WAC DN
Texas A&M–Commerce W 91–84  1–0
UTRGV Fieldhouse (1,032)
Edinburg, TX
November 9, 2018*
7:30 p.m., FSSW+/FCS-P
Oklahoma L 76–91  1–1
Bert Ogden Arena (5,071)
Edinburg, TX
November 12, 2018*
7:00 p.m., KDF
at Texas A&M–Corpus Christi
South Texas Showcase
W 76–69  2–1
American Bank Center (1,160)
Corpus Christi, TX
November 14, 2018*
7:00 p.m., WAC DN
Prairie View A&M W 70–57  3–1
UTRGV Fieldhouse (416)
Edinburg, TX
November 19, 2018*
6:00 p.m.
at East Carolina L 64–69  3–2
Williams Arena (3,144)
Greenville, NC
November 21, 2018*
6:30 p.m., ACCN Extra
at Georgia Tech L 44–72  3–3
McCamish Pavilion (4,175)
Atlanta, GA
November 23, 2018*
7:00 p.m., WAC DN
Lamar W 77–75  4–3
UTRGV Fieldhouse (424)
Edinburg, TX
November 26, 2019*
7:00 p.m., WAC DN
Texas A&M–Corpus Christi W 68–59  5–3
UTRGV Fieldhouse (695)
Edinburg, TX
November 28, 2018*
7:00 p.m.
at Houston L 53–58  5–4
H&PE Arena (3,972)
Houston, TX
December 1, 2018*
7:00 p.m., ESPN+
at UT Arlington W 76–65  6–4
College Park Center (1,330)
Arlington, TX
December 5, 2018*
7:00 p.m., WAC DN
North Dakota
Summit League/WAC Challenge
W 70–56  7–4
UTRGV Fieldhouse (527)
Edinburg, TX
December 15, 2018*
7:00 p.m., WAC DN
Texas State L 68–77  7–5
UTRGV Fieldhouse (733)
Edinburg, TX
December 18, 2018*
7:00 p.m., WAC DN
Rice L 67–75  7–6
UTRGV Fieldhouse (418)
Edinburg, TX
December 22, 2018*
7:00 p.m., WAC DN
McNeese State W 68–64  8–6
UTRGV Fieldhouse (456)
Edinburg, TX
December 28, 2018*
6:00 p.m., FSSW+
at No. 11 Texas Tech L 46–71  8–7
United Supermarkets Arena (11,418)
Lubbock, TX
January 3, 2019*
9:00 p.m., Big West TV
at UC Irvine L 74–85  8–8
Bren Events Center (1,694)
Irvine, CA
January 5, 2019
9:00 p.m., WAC DN
at California Baptist W 81–74  9–8
(1–0)
CBU Events Center (2,461)
Riverside, CA
January 10, 2019
7:00 p.m., WAC DN
Cal State Bakersfield W 75–69  9–9
(1–1)
UTRGV Fieldhouse (802)
Edinburg, TX
January 12, 2019
7:00 p.m., ESPN+
Grand Canyon L 65–69  9–10
(1–2)
UTRGV Fieldhouse (725)
Edinburg, TX
January 17, 2019
8:00 p.m., WAC DN
at Utah Valley L 61–82  9–11
(1–3)
UCCU Center (1,907)
Orem, UT
January 19, 2019
9:00 p.m., WAC DN
at Seattle W 67–62  10–11
(2–3)
Redhawk Center (999)
Seattle, WA
January 26, 2019
7:00 p.m., WAC DN
New Mexico State L 61–63  10–12
(2–4)
UTRGV Fieldhouse (1,104)
Edinburg, TX
January 31, 2019
7:00 p.m., WAC DN
Chicago State W 77–46  11–12
(3–4)
UTRGV Fieldhouse (1,056)
Edinburg, TX
February 2, 2019
7:00 p.m., WAC DN
UMKC W 75–63  12–12
(4–4)
UTRGV Fieldhouse (846)
Edinburg, TX
February 7, 2019
8:00 p.m., ESPN3
at Grand Canyon W 72–69  13–12
(5–4)
GCU Arena 
Phoenix, AZ
February 9, 2019
9:00 p.m., ESPN3
at Cal State Bakersfield W 79–74  14–12
(6–4)
Icardo Center 
Bakersfield, CA
February 14, 2019
7:00 p.m., WAC DN
Seattle W 59–44  15–12
(7–4)
UTRGV Fieldhouse 
Edinburg, TX
February 16, 2019
7:00 p.m., WAC DN
Utah Valley L 64–76  15–13
(7–5)
UTRGV Fieldhouse 
Edinburg, TX
February 19, 2019*
7:00 p.m., WAC DN
Wayland Baptist W 85–66  16–13
(7–5)
UTRGV Fieldhouse 
Edinburg, TX
February 23, 2019
5:00 p.m., WAC DN
at New Mexico State L 79–88  16–14
(7–6)
Pan American Center 
Las Cruces, NM
February 28, 2019
7:00 p.m., WAC DN
at Chicago State W 82–77  17–14
(8–6)
Jones Convocation Center 
Chicago, IL
March 2, 2019
6:00 p.m., WAC DN
at UMKC W 75–70  18–14
(9–6)
Swinney Recreation Center 
Kansas City, MO
March 7, 2019
7:00 p.m., WAC DN
California Baptist L 79–82  18–15
(9–7)
UTRGV Fieldhouse (1,162)
Edinburg, TX
WAC tournament
March 14, 2019
4:30 p.m., ESPN+
(4) vs. (5) Cal State Bakersfield
Quarterfinals
W 85–70  19–15
Orleans Arena 
Paradise, NV
March 15, 2019
8:00 p.m., ESPN+
(4) vs. (1) New Mexico State
Semifinals
L 72–79  19–16
Orleans Arena 
Paradise, NV
CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament
March 20, 2019*
7:00 p.m., CBS Sports Live
Grambling State
First round
W 74–73  20–16
UTRGV Fieldhouse (2,071)
Edinburg, TX
March 25, 2019*
7:00 p.m., CBS Sports Live
Texas Southern
Second round
L 85–94  20–17
UTRGV Fieldhouse (2,216)
Edinburg, TX
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Men's Basketball to Open Season November 6". Texas–Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros. August 7, 2018. Retrieved June 5, 2024.
  2. ^ Luca, Greg (August 17, 2018). "UTRGV men's basketball set for trip to Costa Rica". The Monitor. Retrieved November 9, 2018.