UT Rio Grande Valley tops North Dakota 70-56

Published

EDINBURG, Texas (AP) — Javon Levi scored 15 points and made a career-high six steals to lead four Vaqueros in double-digit scoring and UT Rio Grande Valley got 21 steals and forced 30 turnovers to beat North Dakota 70-56 on Wednesday night for the Fighting Hawks' fourth straight loss.

Jordan Jackson scored 13 points with three steals, Terry Winn II had 12 and Greg Bowie II added 10 for the Vaqueros (7-4), who shot 36 percent and made 20 of 25 free throws. Johnny Crnogorac blocked three shots.

Jackson and Levi hit consecutive 3-pointers for a 45-27 lead early in the second half, but Cortez Seales scored six straight in a 9-0 run and the Fighting Hawks closed to 61-52 on his free throws with 3:18 left. Jackson replied with a dunk and UTRGV outscored North Dakota 7-4 from there.

The Fighting Hawks led briefly, but Solomon Hainna's free throw put the Vaqueros up for good, 8-7, and they made 18 first-half steals before taking a 35-18 halftime lead.

Seales scored 17 points with seven rebounds and Kienan Walter added 15 with seven boards for North Dakota (4-5), which shot 35 percent.