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
Conference	Western Athletic Conference
Record	20–17 (9–7 WAC)
Head coach	Lew Hill (3rd season)
Assistant coaches	Jai Steadman Kenya Crandell Luke Mackay
Home arena	UTRGV Fieldhouse

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

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

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 Lew Hill (Wichita State) Assistant coach(es) Jai Steadman (Nebraska) Kenya Crandell (Nebraska–Kearney) Luke Mackay (East Carolina) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: June 5, 2024

Schedule and results

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

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

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