UTRGV beats Chicago State 75-64 behind Varner

Feb 8, 2020, 09:09 pm

CHICAGO -- Lesley Varner II made 4 of 5 3-pointers and 9 of 10 free throws to score 23 points as UT Rio Grande Valley handed Chicago State its 15th straight loss, 75-64 on Saturday.

Trailing 31-21 at halftime, Varner hit three straight 3-pointers in a one-man 11-0 run to give UTRGV its first lead of the game at 45-40 with 11:55 to play and the Vaqueros led by as many as 15.

Jordan Jackson scored 14 points and Javon Levi added 10 with eight assists for UTRGV (9-14, 5-5 Western Athletic Conference), which has won three straight. Quinton Johnson II scored 10 points.

Andrew Lewis scored 22 points and Xavier Johnson added 13 with four assists for the Cougars (4-21, 0-10), who had 22 turnovers and shot 39% (19 of 43) from the field. Rajeir Jones had 11 points and Amir Gholizadeh had nine.

The Vaqueros improve to 2-0 against the Cougars on the season. Texas Rio Grande Valley defeated Chicago State 87-63 on January 11. Texas Rio Grande Valley matches up against Utah Valley at home on Thursday. Chicago State plays Cal State Bakersfield on the road on Thursday.

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Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights, http://www.automatedinsights.com/ap, using data from STATS LLC, https://www.stats.com