EDINBURG — The UTRGV men’s basketball team entered the 2022 season with questions across the board, returning just two players from last season’s squad.
With 13 new faces on the roster, the Vaqueros were picked to finish 13th out of 13 teams in the Western Athletic Conference.
The new-look Vaqueros shone bright during their unofficial season opener, however, taking down the Concordia University Tornados 136-81 during an exhibition contest Wednesday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse in Edinburg.
“You see a lot of the things that you see in practice and hope that you get to apply it in games,” UTRGV head coach Matt Figger said. “We really didn’t get to run any offense or anything like that. We got conditioning, so I know my team is in good shape as you can see by the way we played.”
The Vaqueros’ offseason work and budding chemistry was on full display Wednesday, recording 41 assists on 52 made field goals. UTRGV’s ball movement led to eight players reaching double figures in scoring, including all five starters.
UTRGV finished 52-of-84 from the field for a 61.9% clip, including 36.4% from beyond the arc. The Vaqueros’ size advantage also played a factor, outrebounding the Tornados 68-29 and outscoring them 88-36 in the paint.
“This is my 30th season as a coach, and I’ve never seen a team share the ball like that,” Figger said. “That was a priority when we went out and recruited. I wanted to find guys who were unselfish players and willing to pass.”
Leading the charge for the Vaqueros was junior college transfer William Johnston, who stuffed the stat sheet. The sophomore point guard dished out a game-high 10 assists to go along with 17 points, four rebounds and one steal.
“Coach really challenged me in being a leader on this team,” Johnston said. “I feel like I’m really trying to embrace that role. Justin (Johnson) is really the only returner along with Lee (Hatcher). Coming in, I’m just really trying to step into that leadership and get everybody involved, and get everybody on the same page when we play these games.”
Johnston was just one of several newcomers to put up big numbers during their UTRGV debut. Junior forward Daylen Williams recorded a double-double, scoring 14 points and hauling in 10 rebounds, and sophomore guard Sherman Brashear netted 14 points on 4-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc.
Senior Justin Johnson, one of UTRGV’s returners from last season, added 16 points, six rebounds and four assists, and grad student Dima Zdor chipped in 10 points, eight rebounds and three blocks, making it five-of-five starters scoring in double digits.
“We’ve been at it since June in building our new chemistry as far as with the new team and stuff,” Johnson said. “When coach said that it was kind of shocking because I didn’t know we had that many assists. That’s good because we’ve been sharing the ball a lot in practice and building that chemistry because we know it is going to go a long way during the season.”
The Vaqueros officially tip off the regular season at 8 p.m. Monday, taking on the Kansas State Wildcats at the Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan, Kansas.
