# 2018–19 Texas–Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros men's basketball team

The 2018–19 Texas–Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros men's basketball team represented the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Vaqueros, led by third-year head coach Lew Hill, played their home games at the UTRGV Fieldhouse, with one home game at Bert Ogden Arena, as members of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). With their win on February 28, the Vaqueros clinched a winning regular season record for the first time since the 2007–08 season. They finished the season 20–17, 9–7 in WAC play, to finish in fourth place. They defeated Cal State Bakersfield in the quarterfinals of the WAC tournament before losing in the semifinals to New Mexico State. They were invited to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament where they defeated Grambling State in the first round before losing in the second round to Texas Southern.

## Previous season

They finished the 2017–18 season 15–18, 6–8 in WAC play to finish in fifth place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the WAC tournament to Seattle. They were invited to the College Basketball Invitational where they lost in the first round to New Orleans.

## Schedule and results

The Vaqueros's schedule was released on August 7, 2018. The team played a two-game foreign exhibition series in Costa Rica in August.
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Costa Rica Foreign Tour ||||||
| Aug 18, 2018* 7:30 p.m. | | vs. Coopenae San Ramon ARBA | W 85–56 | | San José, Costa Rica |
| Aug 19, 2018* 7:30 p.m. | | Costa Rica national team | W 87–68 | | San José, Costa Rica |
| Regular season ||||||
| November 6, 2018* 7:00 p.m., WAC DN | | Texas A&M–Commerce | W 91–84 | 1–0 | UTRGV Fieldhouse (1,032) Edinburg, TX |
| November 9, 2018* 7:30 p.m., FSSW+/FCS-P | | Oklahoma | L 76–91 | 1–1 | Bert Ogden Arena (5,071) Edinburg, TX |
| November 12, 2018* 7:00 p.m., KDF | | at Texas A&M–Corpus Christi South Texas Showcase | W 76–69 | 2–1 | American Bank Center (1,160) Corpus Christi, TX |
| November 14, 2018* 7:00 p.m., WAC DN | | Prairie View A&M | W 70–57 | 3–1 | UTRGV Fieldhouse (416) Edinburg, TX |
| November 19, 2018* 6:00 p.m. | | at East Carolina | L 64–69 | 3–2 | Williams Arena (3,144) Greenville, NC |
| November 21, 2018* 6:30 p.m., ACCN Extra | | at Georgia Tech | L 44–72 | 3–3 | McCamish Pavilion (4,175) Atlanta, GA |
| November 23, 2018* 7:00 p.m., WAC DN | | Lamar | W 77–75 | 4–3 | UTRGV Fieldhouse (424) Edinburg, TX |
| November 26, 2019* 7:00 p.m., WAC DN | | Texas A&M–Corpus Christi | W 68–59 | 5–3 | UTRGV Fieldhouse (695) Edinburg, TX |
| November 28, 2018* 7:00 p.m. | | at Houston | L 53–58 | 5–4 | H&PE Arena (3,972) Houston, TX |
| December 1, 2018* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at UT Arlington | W 76–65 | 6–4 | College Park Center (1,330) Arlington, TX |
| December 5, 2018* 7:00 p.m., WAC DN | | North Dakota Summit League/WAC Challenge | W 70–56 | 7–4 | UTRGV Fieldhouse (527) Edinburg, TX |
| December 15, 2018* 7:00 p.m., WAC DN | | Texas State | L 68–77 | 7–5 | UTRGV Fieldhouse (733) Edinburg, TX |
| December 18, 2018* 7:00 p.m., WAC DN | | Rice | L 67–75 | 7–6 | UTRGV Fieldhouse (418) Edinburg, TX |
| December 22, 2018* 7:00 p.m., WAC DN | | McNeese State | W 68–64 | 8–6 | UTRGV Fieldhouse (456) Edinburg, TX |
| December 28, 2018* 6:00 p.m., FSSW+ | | at No. 11 Texas Tech | L 46–71 | 8–7 | United Supermarkets Arena (11,418) Lubbock, TX |
| January 3, 2019* 9:00 p.m., Big West TV | | at UC Irvine | L 74–85 | 8–8 | Bren Events Center (1,694) Irvine, CA |
| January 5, 2019 9:00 p.m., WAC DN | | at California Baptist | W 81–74 | 9–8 (1–0) | CBU Events Center (2,461) Riverside, CA |
| January 10, 2019 7:00 p.m., WAC DN | | Cal State Bakersfield | W 75–69 | 9–9 (1–1) | UTRGV Fieldhouse (802) Edinburg, TX |
| January 12, 2019 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Grand Canyon | L 65–69 | 9–10 (1–2) | UTRGV Fieldhouse (725) Edinburg, TX |
| January 17, 2019 8:00 p.m., WAC DN | | at Utah Valley | L 61–82 | 9–11 (1–3) | UCCU Center (1,907) Orem, UT |
| January 19, 2019 9:00 p.m., WAC DN | | at Seattle | W 67–62 | 10–11 (2–3) | Redhawk Center (999) Seattle, WA |
| January 26, 2019 7:00 p.m., WAC DN | | New Mexico State | L 61–63 | 10–12 (2–4) | UTRGV Fieldhouse (1,104) Edinburg, TX |
| January 31, 2019 7:00 p.m., WAC DN | | Chicago State | W 77–46 | 11–12 (3–4) | UTRGV Fieldhouse (1,056) Edinburg, TX |
| February 2, 2019 7:00 p.m., WAC DN | | UMKC | W 75–63 | 12–12 (4–4) | UTRGV Fieldhouse (846) Edinburg, TX |
| February 7, 2019 8:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | at Grand Canyon | W 72–69 | 13–12 (5–4) | GCU Arena Phoenix, AZ |
| February 9, 2019 9:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | at Cal State Bakersfield | W 79–74 | 14–12 (6–4) | Icardo Center Bakersfield, CA |
| February 14, 2019 7:00 p.m., WAC DN | | Seattle | W 59–44 | 15–12 (7–4) | UTRGV Fieldhouse Edinburg, TX |
| February 16, 2019 7:00 p.m., WAC DN | | Utah Valley | L 64–76 | 15–13 (7–5) | UTRGV Fieldhouse Edinburg, TX |
| February 19, 2019* 7:00 p.m., WAC DN | | Wayland Baptist | W 85–66 | 16–13 (7–5) | UTRGV Fieldhouse Edinburg, TX |
| February 23, 2019 5:00 p.m., WAC DN | | at New Mexico State | L 79–88 | 16–14 (7–6) | Pan American Center Las Cruces, NM |
| February 28, 2019 7:00 p.m., WAC DN | | at Chicago State | W 82–77 | 17–14 (8–6) | Jones Convocation Center Chicago, IL |
| March 2, 2019 6:00 p.m., WAC DN | | at UMKC | W 75–70 | 18–14 (9–6) | Swinney Recreation Center Kansas City, MO |
| March 7, 2019 7:00 p.m., WAC DN | | California Baptist | L 79–82 | 18–15 (9–7) | UTRGV Fieldhouse (1,162) Edinburg, TX |
| WAC tournament ||||||
| March 14, 2019 4:30 p.m., ESPN+ | (4) | vs. (5) Cal State Bakersfield Quarterfinals | W 85–70 | 19–15 | Orleans Arena Paradise, NV |
| March 15, 2019 8:00 p.m., ESPN+ | (4) | vs. (1) New Mexico State Semifinals | L 72–79 | 19–16 | Orleans Arena Paradise, NV |
| CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament ||||||
| March 20, 2019* 7:00 p.m., CBS Sports Live | | Grambling State First round | W 74–73 | 20–16 | UTRGV Fieldhouse (2,071) Edinburg, TX |
| March 25, 2019* 7:00 p.m., CBS Sports Live | | Texas Southern Second round | L 85–94 | 20–17 | UTRGV Fieldhouse (2,216) Edinburg, TX |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central. ||||||