ODESSA, Texas (November 9, 2026) – UT Permian Basin men's basketball kicked off its 2026-27 season with an 87-51 victory over the visitors from the University of the Southwest (N.M.) during what was also the Falcons' home opener. Newcomer and graduate student
Tyler Halligan led all players with 18 points on 7-for-9 shooting from the field and added five rebounds, two assists and a game-high two blocks.
UTPB (1-0 overall) shot 53.1 percent from the field and dished out 19 assists on its 34 made field goals while the defense limited USW (1-4) to 32.7 percent shooting. The Falcons led the Mustangs by 18 on points in the paint (46-28), by 17 on points off turnovers (28-11), and by 24 on bench points (45-21).
Behind Halligan were juniors
Demarco Middleton and
Rylan Smith both with 12 points and sophomore
Brady Watson with 11 points. Smith made all three of his 3-point attempts and tied for the game-high in assists (5) while Watson tied with teammate
Akok Ajou for the game-high in rebounds (6).
UTPB made 50 percent (5-10) of its threes in the first half, and then exploded to shoot nearly 60 percent (19-32; 59.38 percent) from the field in the second half, all while limiting USW to 30 percent shooting (9-30) over the final 20 minutes and outscoring the Mustangs by 20 (46-26) in the second half.
Despite five lead changes in the first three minutes of the game, UTPB only trailed for 50 seconds the entire way. Helping UTPB create some separation was Smith (3-pointer; and-one jumper) and Watson (3-pointer), combining to give the Falcons a 9-0 lead on bench points, which contributed to a nine-point lead (20-11) on the free throw by Smith to close out his and-one with 12:17 on the clock in the first half.
Watson hit his second 3-pointer of the first half, contributing to a 16-0 lead on bench points and a 16-point lead (34-18) after a 3-pointer by Halligan with under five minutes left in the opening period.
UTPB made five of its first nine 3-point attempts to that point while Halligan started the game perfect from everywhere (4-for-4 from the field, 1-for-1 from three, 2-for-2 from the free throw line).
In the second half, UTPB made 13 of its first 19 shots (68.4 percent), giving the Falcons a 30-point lead (70-40) with 7:15 remaining.
UTPB improves to 3-3 in season openers under Head Coach
Kyle Tolin, who begins his sixth season leading the Falcons this year.
"I thought there were several positive things from tonight," said Coach Tolin. "We had 19 assists and played lots of guys who had positive minutes."
Next up, UTPB will compete in the South Central Region Challenge with two games in Colorado. It all starts with a matchup against Western Colorado University. The action between the Falcons and the Mountaineers tips off at 12 p.m. Mountain Time / 1 p.m. Central Time on Friday, November 13, from Gunnison, Colorado. Last year in its second game of the season, UTPB defeated Western Colorado 83-71 for its first win of the 2025-26 season, a game that saw Halligan score 16 points while playing for the Mountaineers.
