Texas-Rio Grande Valley beats Missouri-Kansas City 73-61

Jan 7, 2018, 04:33 am

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Nick Dixon hit 5 of 5 from 3-point range and finished with 24 points to lead Texas-Rio Grande Valley to a 73-61 win over Missouri-Kansas City in a Western Athletic Conference opener Saturday night.

Moe McDonald added 12 points for Rio Grande Valley, which shot just 34 percent from the field but made 10 of 19 from 3-point range and controlled the glass 47-34. Javon Levi had nine rebounds, six assists and seven points.

Clinging to a two-point lead with fewer than five minutes left in the opening half, Rio Grande Valley (9-8) broke it open with a 20-5 run that stretched across both sides of the intermission and made it 38-21 with 16 minutes to play. McDonald had seven points in the run.

UMKC (5-12) then narrowed the gap back to single digits with a 9-0 run capped with a 3-point play by Isaiah Ross to trail 43-38 with nearly 10 minutes to play. Dixon ended the Kangaroo rally with back-to-back 3-pointers and Rio Grande Valley led by double figures the rest of the way.

Broderick Robinson led UMKC with 20 points and Ross and Jordan Giles had 12 apiece.