Box Score EDINBURG, TEXAS – The University of Texas at Tyler men's basketball team completed their lone exhibition game of the 2021-22 season on Wednesday night in a 101-72 loss at the hands of The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.
 
The Patriots trailed just 48-37 at the halftime break before the Vaqueros broke open the scoring with 53 points in the second half of action. 14 different Patriots saw action in the program's first meeting with a Division I foe since the 2019-20 season.
 
Junior Milan Szabo led UT Tyler with 12 points on the night, joining classmate Jaxon Edelmayer as the two representatives in double-digits for the Patriots with 11 points of his own. Three other Patriots – Finn Fleute (9), Micah Fuller (8) and Da'Zhon Wyche (8) – all scored eight or more points in the contest.
 
UT Tyler led the game through nearly the first 10 full minutes of the game before UTRGV settled into their rhythm. The Patriots led by a 15-13 margin with 11:36 left in the first half before UTRGV connected on a free throw and a three-point make to earn their first lead of the game.
 
Both teams then traded three pointers as UT Tyler remained ahead 21-19 with 10:11 remaining in the first half. UTRGV then gained a lead that they would not relinquish for the final 30 minutes of action at the 9:23 mark.
 
The Vaqueros extended that lead to 48-37 at the halftime break, using 12 UT Tyler turnovers to manufacture 16 points off of turnovers in the first half alone. The Patriots cut down on the free possessions in the second half, but couldn't find an answer for a UTRGV team that hit 19-of-30 shots from the field in the second half, including a 5-of-10 mark from three-point range.
 
The Patriots shot 39.7 percent (23-of-58) from the field for the game, but hit just 3-of-16 from beyond the three-point line.
 
Edelmayer, Paul Djoko and Kyle Frelow all tied for the team high with four rebounds for the night while Edelmayer added three assists and a pair of steals to his 11 points and four boards
 
UT Tyler will officially get their 2021-22 season started on Nov. 17^th inside the Herrington Patriot Center with a 12 p.m. tip against Southwestern Adventist.