Their last meeting ended in an 86-73 win in Honolulu on Dec. 16, 2000.

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23 years later, the University of Hawaiʻi Men's Basketball team showed not much changed, as they came away with an easy victory over the Texas Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros, 76-57, at the Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert, California.

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Hawaiʻi came out of the gates firing in the first half. When they scored their first bucket, they did not trail at all. Matthue Cotton continued to show his potential, as he nailed a whopping five triples alone in the first half. Cotton led all players with 19 points after the first half.

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The 'Bows continued to keep the fire burning the more the first half went on. While the Vaqueros could only buy one triple from Sherman Brashear throughout the first half, the 'Bows made nine. Juan Munoz was the next closest with only two made.

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It was a great first half for UH, as they committed six turnovers, and would lead, 43-23, going into the second half.

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UH still kept the fire burning going into the second half. They efficiently responded to any run that the Vaqueros made. The Vaqueros did not get any closer than 15.

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Cotton continued his good fortunes and made two more spectacular dunks. Behind the services of Munoz, Coleman, and da Silva, UH was not threatened and kept a double-digit gap the rest of the way.

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Cotton led all UH players with 23 points on 7-of-10 shooting. He was followed by Noel Coleman with 17, and Bernardo da Silva with 14. Justin McKoy had seven points and a game-high 14 rebounds.
 

Elijah Elliott was the only Vaquero to crack double-digits, as he got 18 points on the night. Ahren Freeman had eight points of his own and a team-high 13 rebounds.

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UH will face off against the San Diego Toreros tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. HST at the Acrisure Arena. You can listen on the radio on CBS 1500.