The Donna News

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Department of Intercollegiate Athletics announced on Wednesday that the men’s basketball team will host a doubleheader involving Texas on Nov. 21 at Bert Ogden Arena to highlight a 31-game 2022-23 regular season schedule.

UTRGV will host Western Illinois before Texas faces Northern Arizona to open the Leon Black Classic. UTRGV will then face Northern Arizona on Nov. 22 before visiting Texas on Nov. 26.

In total, UTRGV will host 18 regular season games, including a Dec. 18 tilt against Houston Baptist at the South Padre Island Convention Centre as part of the UTRGV South Padre Island Battle of the Beach.

The Vaqueros are scheduled to play their 14 remaining home games at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.

Season tickets can be purchased online at UTRGVTickets.com or by contacting the UTRGV Athletics Ticket Office team of Eddie Galvan (956-222-2935) and Ryela Rodriguez (956-329-0884) over the phone or through email at tickets@utrgv.edu.

“It’s an exciting time,” UTRGV head coach Matt Figger said. “We’re playing a lot of home games, which will be very beneficial for our team as we look to grow and also give our fans a chance to get on the bandwagon while it’s new and fresh.”

UTRGV plays 12 games against eight teams that made the postseason and combined for seven wins in 2022, including home games against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (NCAA Tournament), Western Illinois (Basketball Classic), California Baptist (CBI) and Stephen F. Austin (CBI), and road games against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Texas (NCAA Tournament Second Round), Western Illinois, New Mexico State (NCAA Tournament Second Round), Abilene Christian (CBI Semifinals), Southern Utah (Basketball Classic Semifinals), California Baptist, and Stephen F. Austin.

Both games against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, which are scheduled for Nov. 17 on the road and Nov. 30 at home, are part of the South Texas Showdown, presented by Navy Army Community Credit Union.

“If you’re going to get better, you have to be in games that make you better,” Figger said. “Our main goal is to win a conference championship. Your non-conference season prepares you for conference play, so you’ve got to challenge yourself. We’re going to start with a place where I’m very familiar with and coached at for five years at Kansas State, which is one of the hardest arenas in the country to win at. We just want to get better every day and challenge ourselves with a schedule that can help us.”

UTRGV hosts Concordia for an exhibition game on Nov. 2 before opening the season at Kansas State on Nov. 7. UTRGV comes home to host Southwestern Adventist on Nov. 12 and the University of St. Francis on Nov. 14. St. Francis is coached by Ryan Marks, who coached legacy institution UTPA from 2009-13.

UTRGV plays additional non-conference home games against Southwestern Christian on Dec. 15 and Chicago State on Jan. 14. The Chicago State game is the part of a doubleheader as women’s basketball hosts Grand Canyon at 4 p.m. UTRGV also has a trip to Houston Baptist on Dec. 10.

UTRGV opens WAC play on Dec. 29 at Utah Tech before facing Southern Utah on Dec. 31.

UTRGV then comes home for a four-game home stand, including three WAC contests, Jan. 5 against Seattle U, Jan. 7 against Utah Valley, and Jan. 11 against Abilene Christian.

After a three-game road swing through UT Arlington, Sam Houston, and Stephen F. Austin Jan. 19-25, UTRGV hosts California Baptist on Jan. 29 and Sam Houston on Feb. 1.

UTRGV visits Tarleton on Feb. 4 and then hosts UT Arlington and Stephen F. Austin Feb. 9 and 11, respectively. The Stephen F. Austin game is part of a doubleheader as women’s basketball hosts Abilene Christian at 4 p.m.

UTRGV travels to Grand Canyon and New Mexico State Feb. 15 and 18, respectively, and then plays its final two home games Feb. 23 against Utah Tech and Feb. 25 against Tarleton. The home finale is part of a doubleheader as women’s basketball hosts Sam Houston at 4 p.m.

UTRGV closes out WAC play on March 1 at California Baptist.

The top 12 teams reach the WAC Tournament, which is set to start March 7 with the 5-12 seeds competing at Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas before the top eight remaining seeds return to Orleans Arena March 9-11. The WAC Tournament Champion earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

“It’s another hard conference schedule,” Figger said. Every conference in the country, when you play in your conference, it’s the hardest conference in the country because it’s your conference and everybody knows each other better. I’m excited for the set-up of the WAC. This is a conference that’s going to be so competitive top to bottom that it’s going to be hard to distinguish who’s number one and who’s number 13. The WAC’s building off last year and is as strong as it’s been in a long time.”

Complete Schedule

Date                Opponent                                           Site                                         Time (CT)

11/2                 Concordia (Exhibition)                     UTRGV Fieldhouse               6:30 p.m.

11/7                 at Kansas State                                  Manhattan, Kan.                     TBD

11/12               Southwestern Adventist                  UTRGV Fieldhouse               7 p.m.

11/14               St. Francis                                         UTRGV Fieldhouse               6:30 p.m.

South Texas Showdown, Presented by Navy Army Community Credit Union

11/17               at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi             Corpus Christi                         7 p.m.

11/21               Western Illinois                                 Bert Ogden Arena                 TBD

Leon Black Classic

11/21               Texas vs. Northern Arizona                Bert Ogden Arena                     TBD

11/22               Northern Arizona                              Bert Ogden Arena                 6:30 p.m.

11/26               at Texas                                              Austin                                      TBD

South Texas Showdown, Presented by Navy Army Community Credit Union

11/30               Texas A&M-Corpus Christi              UTRGV Fieldhouse               6:30 p.m.

12/3                 at Western Illinois                               Macomb, Ill.                            TBD

12/10               at Houston Baptist                              Houston                                  7 p.m.

12/15               Southwestern Christian                   UTRGV Fieldhouse               7:30 p.m.

UTRGV South Padre Island Battle on the Beach

12/18               Houston Baptist                                South Padre Island Convention Centre  TBD

12/29               at Utah Tech*                                      St. George, Utah                     TBD

12/31               at Southern Utah*                               Cedar City, Utah                     TBD

1/5                   Seattle U*                                           UTRGV Fieldhouse               6:30 p.m.

1/7                   Utah Valley*                                       UTRGV Fieldhouse               6:30 p.m.

1/11                 Abilene Christian*                             UTRGV Fieldhouse               6:30 p.m.

1/14                 Chicago State (DH)                           UTRGV Fieldhouse               6:30 p.m.

1/19                 at UT Arlington*                                  Arlington                                  TBD

1/21                 at Sam Houston*                                Huntsville                                TBD

1/25                 at Stephen F. Austin*                          Nacogdoches                          TBD

1/28                 California Baptist*                            UTRGV Fieldhouse               6:30 p.m.

2/1                   Sam Houston*                                   UTRGV Fieldhouse               6:30 p.m.

2/4                   at Tarleton*                                         Stephenville                            TBD

2/9                   UT Arlington*                                     UTRGV Fieldhouse               6:30 p.m.

2/11                 Stephen F. Austin* (DH)                   UTRGV Fieldhouse               6:30 p.m.

2/15                 at Grand Canyon*                               Phoenix, Ariz.                          TBD

2/18                 at New Mexico State*                         Las Cruces, N.M.                    TBD

2/23                 Utah Tech*                                         UTRGV Fieldhouse               6:30 p.m.

2/25                 Tarleton* (DH)                                    UTRGV Fieldhouse               6:30 p.m.

3/1                   at California Baptist*                           Riverside, Calif.                      TBD

WAC Tournament

3/7                   WAC Tournament Opening Round    Michelob ULTRA Arena          2/4:30/8/10:30 p.m.

3/9                   WAC Tournament Quarterfinals         Orleans Arena                         2/4:30/8/10:30 p.m.

3/10                 WAC Tournament Semifinals             Orleans Arena                         8/10:30 p.m.

3/11                 WAC Tournament Championship      Orleans Arena                         9 p.m.

NCAA Tournament

14-15               NCAA Tournament First Four (If Nec.)    Dayton, Ohio                           5:30/8 p.m.

16-17               NCAA Tournament Second Round    Regional Sites                         TBA

18-19               NCAA Tournament Third Round        Regional Sites                         TBA

23-24               NCAA Tournament Sweet 16             Regional Sites                         TBA

25-26               NCAA Tournament Elite 8                  Regional Sites                         TBA

4/1                   NCAA Tournament Final Four            Houston                                  TBA

4/3                   NCAA Tournament Championship     Houston                                  TBA

All Times CT

*Denotes WAC Game

Home Games in Bold

Neutral Site Games in Italics  

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