East Texas A&M vs UT Rio Grande Valley Prediction 1/13/25 College Basketball Picks

The East Texas A&M Lions and the UTRGV Vaqueros meet Monday in college basketball action from UTRGV Fieldhouse. Here’s an East Texas A&M vs UTRGV prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best East Texas A&M vs UTRGV pick. We will examine:

The East Texas A&M Lions’ recent form and player performance

The UTRGV Vaqueros’ recent form and player performance

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the East Texas A&M Lions

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the UTRGV Vaqueros

Recent betting trends in games played between East Texas A&M and UTRGV

A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the East Texas A&M vs UTRGV game

East Texas A&M Lions Betting Preview

East Texas A&M hasn’t had the greatest season so far (to put it mildly) but they’ve got a handful of quality showings in the bag. The Lions lost to Iowa, South Dakota, and Texas A&M in their first trio before a win over Southern. A losing streak versus UConn, Oklahoma, Stonehill, Fort Wayne, Houston Christian, Incarnate Word, and South Alabama came next before another win over Abilene Christian. East Texas A&M would fall to South Florida, McNeese State, and Nicholls in the next trio for a 2-13 overall run through their first 15 games of the season.

In the Saturday matchup with Northwestern State, the Lions fell behind quickly after a 38-24 first-half deficit. East Texas A&M recovered on a better run from there 43-37, but still fell in the end 75-67. The only starter on the team to finish in double-figures was Scooter Williams with 18 points, six rebounds, and two steals in 31 minutes of work. Both Demarco Bethea and Chris Adlam added 10 points apiece off the bench in the defeat.

UTRGV Vaqueros Betting Preview

Over on the Vaqueros’ side, they kicked off the season on a .500 run through their first six games, but things have picked up nicely since then. UTRGV lost to Nebraska, Creighton, and Wisconsin in that first half-dozen-game run, with wins over Champion Christian, Charleston Southern, and Tennessee Tech otherwise. After wins over Le Moyne and Stephen F Austin and a loss to Lamar, the Vaqueros rattled off wins over Northern New Mexico, Southern Utah, College of Biblical Studies, Dallas Christian, and New Orleans before another loss to Southeastern Louisiana. The result was a 10-5 run through the first 15 games of the year.

Matched up against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Saturday, the Vaqueros were also outscored in the first half on a 41-26 disadvantage. UTRGV woke up in the second half on a 48-38 run but couldn’t pull off the comeback in a 79-74 defeat in the end. Leading the team in scoring was Hasan Abdul Hakim with 20 points, six boards, and five assists. Trey Miller came off the bench to provide 16 points and four assists, while DK Thorn added 15 points and four rebounds.

Why the Texas-Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros will win

• East Texas A&M has lost each of its last six games against Conference opponents.
• Texas–Rio Grande Valley has won seven of its last eight games at UTRGV Fieldhouse against non-AP-ranked opponents.
• Texas–Rio Grande Valley has won the first half in each of its last six night games against non-AP-ranked opponents.

Why the East Texas A&M Lions will win

• Texas–Rio Grande Valley has lost 16 of its last 21 night games.

East Texas A&M vs UTRGV Prediction

I’ll go with UTRGV here. The Vaqueros had a bad first half against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in their last outing, but to their credit, UTRGV fought back and made the score respectable in the end. The shooting was solid (51.7 percent) and the Vaqueros had a 32-30 rebounding advantage. The 11 turnovers for 15 Islanders points really put a damper on things, though. UTRGV has now lost consecutive games, but they’re still scoring well. The Vaqueros have 72 or more points in seven straight outings.

As for East Texas A&M, they had a rough time from outside (4-of-24 for 16.7 percent) in their latest loss to Northwestern State, but didn’t play too badly overall otherwise. The Lions have lost four straight, with fewer than 68 points in each game. UTRGV should have the advantage here, and I like the Vaqueros to power out a cover.