UTRGV, Texas Southern meet in CIT second round

Texas Southern (22-13) vs. Texas Rio Grande Valley (20-16)

CIT Second Round, UTRGV Fieldhouse, Edinburg, Texas; Monday, 7 p.m. EDT

BOTTOM LINE: Texas Southern and Texas Rio Grande Valley are set to clash in a CIT second round battle. Texas Rio Grande Valley earned a 74-73 win over Grambling State in its most recent game, while Texas Southern emerged with a 95-89 win in overtime against New Orleans in its last outing.

SAVVY SENIORS: Texas Rio Grande Valley has relied heavily on its seniors this year. Javon Levi, Terry Winn III, Lesley Varner II, Tyson Smith and Jordan Jackson have combined to account for 75 percent of the team’s scoring this year and 84 percent of all Vaqueros points over the last five games.

JUMPING FOR JEREMY: Across 35 appearances this season, Texas Southern’s Jeremy Combs has shot 60.4 percent.

THREAT FROM DEEP: Texas Southern’s Jalyn Patterson has attempted 207 3-pointers and connected on 30.9 percent of them, and is 6 for 22 over the last three games.

STREAK SCORING: Texas Southern has won its last six road games, scoring 77.8 points, while allowing 71.7 per game.

DID YOU KNOW: The Texas Rio Grande Valley defense has forced opponents into turnovers on an impressive 24.9 percent of all possessions, which is the third-highest rate in the country. The Texas Southern offense has turned the ball over on 20.2 percent of its possessions (ranked 286th among Division I teams).