BEAUMONT, Texas – UT Rio Grande Valley jumped out to a quick start and never trailed defeating Lamar University, 83-72, Tuesday evening at Neches Arena. The loss, which drops LU to 5-5 on the season and 0-2 in Southland Conference play, was the team's third consecutive after its best start since 2019-20.
 
UTRGV opened the night converting 62.1 percent (18-of-29) of its attempts in the first half, including a 9-of-12 (.750) effort from long range. The Vaqueros cooled off a bit in the second half but ended the game 30-of-58 (.517) from the field with 14 three-pointers.
 
The Cardinals were at the opposite end of the spectrum in the opening half knocking down just nine field goals (only two threes). LU ended the half shooting less than 35 percent but bounced back in the second shooting nearly 46 percent and ended the night 24-of-59 (.407) from the field and 9-of-28 (.321) from three-point range. Big Red managed to get to the free throw line 21 times converting nearly 72 percent of its attempts.
 
Lamar finished the night with a slim 36-35 margin on the boards but nearly doubled up UTRGV in offensive rebounds, 11-6.
 
The Vaqueros got a huge boost from their bench outscoring Lamar's reserves, 24-11.
 
Senior Andrew Holifield led three Cardinals in double figures with 24 points. He was joined by Cody Pennebaker (16 points) and Rob Lee, Jr. (12).
 
UTRGV hit seven of its first eight to open the game building a 14-point lead less than seven minutes in. That lead would grow to as many as 21 points in the second half before Lamar began to claw its way back. Sparked by a Holifield triple in transition, the Cardinals rattled off a 12-0 run to pull within nine. Lamar managed to get within seven following a Pennebaker three with 4:12 remaining but could get no closer as UTRGV was able to find an answer for each LU run.
 
The Cardinals will look to right the ship Saturday with their final non-conference game of the season. Big Red will play host to Omaha Saturday at 6 p.m. from Neches Arena.