UT Rio Grande Valley beats Nicholls 86-68 in Southland Conference Tournament quarterfinal

Published Mar. 9, 2026 11:41 p.m. ET

Associated Press

LAKE CHARLES, La. (AP) — Filip Brankovic had 21 points to lead UT Rio Grande Valley to an 86-68 victory over Nicholls on Monday night in a Southland Conference Tournament quarterfinal.

No. 3 seed UT Rio Grande Valley (19-13) will play second-seeded McNeese in a Tuesday semifinal. Top seed Stephen F. Austin squares off against fourth-seeded Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to begin the round.

Brankovic also had five rebounds for the Vaqueros. Koree Cotton totaled 18 points and five assists, sinking four 3-pointers. Jaylen Washington added 15 points.

Trae English led the way for the sixth-seeded Colonels (14-19 with 17 points. Jalin Rice added 13 points and Christian Winborne scored 11.

UT Rio Grande Valley took the lead with 7:48 remaining in the first half and did not trail again. Brankovic led the Vaqueros with 11 points for a 44-32 advantage at the break.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.