Kingsville – Senior guard Rickey Huckaby broke out of a two-game scoring slump to lead five Javelina players in double figures with 21 points as Texas A&M-Kingsville rallied from a 16-point first half deficit to defeat #18 Southwestern Oklahoma State in a pulsating 88-77 victory at Kleberg Bank Court. Huckaby had scored just nine total points in his last two games, but bounced back with 21 points on 10 of 14 shooting from the floor.
Sophomore point guard Wendell Mulkey (San Antonio East Central) scored a season-high 13 points and dished out three assists, Remi Yusuf added 19, Stephen Story had 12 and Bobby Pandy came off the bench to chip in with 11.
The Javelinas out-scored the Bulldogs 17-6 over the final five minutes.
The Hogs improved to 11-1 overall and 8-0 at home this season.
Down 39-32 at the half, the Javelinas opened the second half on an 11-4 run which included a six-point trip down the floor.
Wendell Mulkey hit a driving lay-up, was fouled, missed the free throw, but the Javelinas grabbed the rebound. Stephen Story hit a put back was fouled, and like Mulkey, missed the free throw, but again the Javelinas grabbed the offensive board. Rickey Huckaby completed the three-basket possession with a driving lay-up to cut the lead to 43-41.
The Hogs then forced a turnover and Kia Griffin punctuated the run with a breakaway slam-dunk to tie the game at 43 just over two minutes into the second half.
But again the Bulldog offensive juggernaut responded, scoring five straight points to make it 48-43.
Texas A&M-Kingsville slowly chipped away at the lead and when Mulkey hit a driving lay-up and Bobby Pandy scored inside with 11:48 left in the game, the Javelinas had their first lead of the second half and just their second lead of the game, 58-57.
Yusuf scored three consecutive baskets to tie the game at 71 with 5:10 left, but picked up his fourth foul 10 seconds later.
With Yusuf on the bench, the Javelinas build a 3-point lead, capped by a steal and a hanging jumper in the lane by Huckaby with 4:24 remaining to give the Javelinas a 74-71 advantage.
Huckaby hit a turnaround jumper at the 3:20 mark to build the lead to 5, 77-72.
Mulkey then hit a driving lay-up out of the half court offense with two minutes left to increase the lead to seven, 79-72.
The Bulldogs would get no closer than four points the rest of the way as the Javelinas hit five of their final six free throws to seal the victory.
After shooting just 36 percent in the first half, the Javelinas made 56 percent of their shots in the second half and forced 11-second half turnovers while committing only two.
Texas A&M-Kingsville out-scored the Bulldogs 21-8 at the charity stripe.
The Hogs struggled early to start the game, trailing 15-4 just over five minutes into the contest.
But a jumper by Bobby Pandy with 11:45 left in the first half capped a 14-2 run to give the Javelinas their first and only lead of the first half 18-17.
The Bulldogs immediately responded, scoring 18 of the next 19 points, holding the Javelinas without a field goal for nearly six minutes to hold its biggest lead of the half, 35-19.
But the Hogs responded with some tough defense of their own, holding the Bulldogs scoreless for nearly six minutes in putting together a 13-0 run to cut the lead to three, 35-32.
Southwestern closed the half by scoring a pair of lay-ups in the final 23 seconds to take a 39-32 advantage into the intermission.
The Hogs hit just 36 percent of their shots from the floor in the first half while the Bulldogs made nearly 55 percent. Southwestern also out-rebounded the Javelinas 23-15.
Texas A&M-Kingsville forced five more turnovers than it committed and out-scored the Bulldogs from the free throw line 9-1.
