EDINBURG — Turnovers were the UTRGV Vaqueros’ Achilles’ heel Wednesday, committing 21 during their contest against the Texas A&M Corpus Christi Islanders.
None, however, were bigger than a pair of turnovers to open the second half. Up by four, the Vaqueros gave the ball away with 18:37 left, leading to a pair of free throws by Isaac Mushila.
Thirty seconds later, UTRGV turned the ball over again, leading to a 3-pointer by Myles Smith, giving the Islanders their first lead of the game and sparking a 12-2 run. The Vaqueros were unable to shake off the run, falling 83-77 to the Islanders at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
“That run was a big run,” UTRGV forward Justin Johnson said. “It hurt us. Coach (Figger) said that when we called the timeout. I feel like we came back and hit them in the mouth, but we went back to not framing our face, giving low fouls and putting them on the line way too much.”
Trailing the Islanders by nine midway through the second, the Vaqueros responded with a 12-2 run to retake a 59-58 lead with 7:06 left in regulation. Johnson helped spark the comeback attempt by UTRGV, scoring seven of the team’s 11 points during that span.
The Islanders answered with an 8-0 run, to retake the lead before closing the game out with eight consecutive made free throws, holding off the Vaqueros to improve to 5-1 on the year.
Mushila recorded a double-double to lead the Islanders, including a team-high 28 points and 11 rebounds. Smith added 16 points, four rebounds and three steals.
The Vaqueros struggled at the free throw line all night, going 12-of-23 from the charity stripe. Meanwhile, the Islanders took advantage of their free throws, going 28-of-37.
UTRGV committed 30 fouls, with three players fouling out with five fouls each.
“It’s hard to manage,” UTRGV head coach Matt Figger said. “They shot 37 free throw attempts in our building. I’ve been preaching out our fouling. We put Mushila on the line 17 times. Murdix went 6-of-6 down the stretch. We just foul. Fouling is a negation of competing. It’s not playing hard or physical or tough. It’s just playing lazy and against what we preach.”
The Vaqueros had only two players in double figures during the loss, led by Johnson’s game-high 33 points, adding eight rebounds and four assists. Marek Nelson chipped in 16 points and three rebounds.
“The guys around him have to step up and make open shots,” Figger said. “Teams are going to start swallowing him up. Justin has some fight and character and pride to him. He played 38 minutes and 59 seconds tonight. He’s on the floor and he’s competing. I don’t want him to turn the ball over that much, but I know if he doesn’t score those 33 points, we’re getting beat handedly.”
With that, the Vaqueros fall to 4-4 on the year, including 2-2 at home. They’ll have a quick turnaround, returning to action at 7 p.m. Friday during a road contest against the No. 7-ranked Texas Longhorns at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin.
