FT.
WORTH – It was a tale of two halves Saturday afternoon as the
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi led by as many as 11 in the first
half, but a surge by TCU in the second half proved to be the
difference as the Islanders had their winning streak snapped at
three with a 66-53 loss at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum.
The
loss snapped the Islanders longest winning streak since the 2006-07
season at three and evened their record at 4-4. TCU improved to 6-3
under first-year coach Jim Christian. It was their fifth-straight
win.
"I
thought we played good basketball today," said Islander coach Perry
Clark. "We did what we wanted to do most of the game. There was
a five-minute stretch where we broke down defensively and couldn't
stop them. I thought we missed a bunch of second-chance
opportunities that could have stemmed the tide."
In the first
half, the Islanders fell behind 3-0 as Keion Mitchem opened the
game with a three-point basket but took the lead with six straight
points. Justin
Reynolds and Horace
Bond each scored second-chance baskets before a jumper by Kevin
Palmer made it a 6-3 Islander lead four minutes in to the
game.
Kevin Langford
pulled the hosts back to within a point at 7-6 when he converted
1-of-2 free throws with 14:43 to go as Reynolds picked up his
second foul.
A&M-Corpus
Christi would answer going on a 13-2 run taking a 20-8 lead with
just over eight minutes to go in the half. The Islander run was
sparked by its work on the boards and on defense.
After Tim
Green's layup was ruled good because of goaltending, Jawan
Nelson scored on a move in the low post and then on a putback.
Demond
Watt and Green followed by scoring on Islander misses before a
dunk by Palmer, who had five steals in the first 20 minutes, made
it a 20-8 lead.
Seven straight
points by the Horned Frogs' Langford made it a 20-15 game with 5:15
left in the half.
A&M-Corpus
Christi quickly pushed its lead back to double figures with a 6-0
burst. After a dunk by Palmer off a steal, Drake put
back his own miss. A pair of free throws by Palmer upped the team's
advantage to 26-15 with 3:12.
Palmer finished
the first half with five steals. He added one in the second half to
tie a school record of six which has been accomplished multiple
times but not since Armond Wainwright had six versus Belmont on
Jan. 20, 2001.
The Islanders
would take a 30-22 lead into the locker room as they out-scored TCU
13-2 off turnovers and 10-4 on second chance points. They limited
their opponent to under 37% shooting in the first 20 minutes.
In the second
half, everything that went right for the Islanders in the first 20
minutes seemed to go against them in the second half combined with
an increased shooting percentage by the Frogs, who shot 60.9% in
the second half.
Less than four
minutes into second half the Islanders found themselves up nine
37-28 following a dunk by Watt.
Leading 39-34
following a bucket by Drake when he tallied after grabbing a loose
ball underneath the basket, the Islanders would go cold from the
field the next eight allowing TCU to go on an 18-2 run and take an
11-point lead , 52-41, with under seven minutes remaining. Mitchem
capped the run with the final five points while Langford struck for
four points. Edvinas Ruzgas added a three-point basket.
The Islanders
pulled back to within seven, 52-45, with five minutes left as Watt
hit his first of two free throws.
Back-to-back
three point baskets by Zvonko Buljan and Ruzgas made it a 13-point
game with 4:20 left.
A three-point
conversion by Green made it a 10-point game with 2:59 to go but the
Islanders. Ronnie Moss ended the Islanders hope with the fifth
three-pointer of the half by TCU to make it a 63-50 contest.
For the game,
the Islanders finished with season-low 12 turnovers but hit just
33.3% from the floor. TAMUCC also held a 40-36 advantage on the
boards including a 22-7 advantage on the offensive end, but
struggled at the foul line. The team was 7-of-16 from the stripe,
while TCU was 17-of-22.
Palmer and
Drake led the Islanders with 13 points apiece, while TCU's Langford
led all players with 20. Moss and Mitchem had 11 and 10 points,
respectively. Watt and Bond led the Islanders with seven rebounds
apiece. Buljan had a game-high nine.
"We did a lot
of good things in this game," said Clark. "We just didn't execute
well at some critical times."
The Islanders
return home to the American Bank Center for their next two games.
They host Texas A&M International on Monday at 7 p.m. before
Oklahoma State visits Stripes Court on Sunday at 3 p.m.
