Vaqueros bounce back with win at home against Austin Peay

There’s no place like home, and the UTRGV Vaqueros (3-5) proved that point in their Sunday matchup against the Austin Peay Governors, 63-50.

The hometown team was propelled forward by the offensive display from Koree Cotton, who had 22 points off of 8-14 shooting. He shot 40% from beyond the arc with 2-6 shooting as well. Along with the scoring, 10 rebound also adorned his stat line.

The win puts the Vaqueros undefeated at home, 2-0. Their first at the UTRGV Fieldhouse came from Southwestern Adventist. The Governors stand at 4-5 on the season.

The first half had the Vaqueros and the Governors neck to neck with one another, as neither team were able to pull away from each other. It wasn’t until about five minutes left in the first half in which Austin Peay built themselves a 10-point lead.

However, a layup by Cotton, along with some freethrows — accompanied by a jumper from Jaylen Washington help mend the deficit, in which UTRGV was up by 1 point after Marvin McGhee III iced a three right before the half.

UTRGV was able to pull away in the second half but that didn’t happen until about 7:43 left in the ball game.

A nice little run that was propelled by Cotton help build the lead for the Vaqueros. After a layup and jumper by Cotton with less than 5 minutes to play, Marshal Destremau knocked down a three-pointer to further build the lead up to 7.

Afterward, free throws and defense helped put the game to give the Vaqueros the dub.

Speaking of free throws, UTRGV showed the important of them as they shot about 81% from the line — with 9 being knocked down out of 11.

Both teams struggled tremendously from beyond the arc as multiple shots kept bouncing off the iron. The Vaqueros shot 24% from three, while Austin Peay shot 13%. Granted, off of the misses, UTRGV did grab 45 rebounds on the night compared to the Governors’ 30, which helped with second chance points and assisted in giving extra possessions for the home team.

UTRGV will try to continue the home winning streak as they will host UT Arlington on Thurday at 6:30 p.m.