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ISLANDERS (3-5) AT
DENVER (4-5)
Wednesday, Dec. 17 • 6 p.m. MT/7 p.m. CT
MAGNESS ARENA • DENVER, COLO.
TICKETS
LIVE: Stats | Audio | Twitter
RADIO: NEWSRADIO 1360 KKTX (Yannis Koutroupis)
TV: Root Sports Rocky Mountain (Vic Lombardi & Greg Lackey)
GAME NOTES: Islanders | Pioneers
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THE OPENING TIP
The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's basketball team hits the road for three games in a five-day span, beginning with a Wednesday evening contest against Denver. The Islanders are looking to snap a three-game losing streak when they face the Pioneers, a game that will be a rematch of the teams' contest on Saturday, Dec. 6
QUICK HITS
• Senior guard John Jordan became the first player in school history to top 500 career assists when he passed the mark on Dec. 6 against Denver. He now has 504 career dimes and and is in the top 10 of eight major offensive categories.
• Sophomore Rashawn Thomas had his second double-double of the season (and fourth of his career) against Denver, scoring 15 points with 10 rebounds. He is now averaging 11.4 points and 7.1 boards on the season.
• A&M-Corpus Christi has seen a stark contrast in its offensive performance in wins as compared to that in losses. In defeats, the Islanders are just 66-for-235 (.366) from the field overall, and are averaging 50.8 points. In wins, A&M-Corpus Christi is 72-for-146 (.493) from the field and averaging 70.0.
• Junior Brandon Pye has been the most consistent Islanders player this season, finishing between six and 10 points in seven of the eight games. He has played 34 minutes or more in each of the last four games.
• Junior transfer Bryce Douvier has cooled off after a hot start to his Islanders career. Through his first five games, he finished in double figures four times, but has scored just five points combined in the last three.
• Former walk-on Emmanuel Toney has provided a lift off the bench as of late. The Bowie, Md., native, who was awarded a scholarship this summer, has played 19-plus minutes in each of the last three games.
• Texas A&M-Corpus Christi got a boost when junior Viktor Juricek was granted an immediate eligibility waiver from the NCAA. The 6-foot-11 center had nine points on 3-of-8 shooting against Radford.
• The Islanders and Pioneers meet for the sixth time, with the Pioneers holding a 4-1 advantage all-time, including each of the last four games.
LAST TIME OUT
John Jordan scored a season-high 21 points, but a hot-shooting UTSA squad surged past the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's basketball team, 73-60, on Monday night at the American Bank Center.
The Roadrunners shot 59.3 percent from the floor in the second half to turn a four-point halftime deficit into a double-digit victory. Ryan Bowie scored 20 points, going 8-for-12 from the field (including a 4-for-5 performance from beyond the arc) for UTSA, while Keon Lewis added 19 points, including a 13-for-15 effort at the free-throw line.
Rashawn Thomas added 18 points and Brandon Pye 10 in a losing effort for the Islanders.
THE ALL-TIME SERIES
The Islanders and Pioneers will play for the sixth time in program history on Saturday, with Denver having won the last four matchups after the Islanders took the inaugural battle in 2001.
This will be the second of two times that the teams meet on the hardwood in the span of three games, as A&M-Corpus Christi fell to the Pioneers 64-48 on Saturday, Dec. 6. In that game, DU shot 55.6 percent from the field, while the Islanders mustered just a 34.9 shooting percentage. Cam Griffin led all scorers with 16 points, while Nate Engesser (13) and Brett Olson (11) also finished in double figures. Rashawn Thomas had a double-double for the Islanders with 15 points and 10 boards.
The Islanders and Pioneers met in both 2011 (in Corpus Christi) and 2012 (in Denver).
CHASING HISTORY
John Jordan entered his senior year on the cusp of breaking a number of different school records and cementing himself as one of the greatest Islanders in program history. The Preseason First Team All-Southland selection is in the school's all-time top 10 of eight major categories and is within striking distance of the school record in six of those (see page 3 chart).
The best point guard in Islanders lore, the Houston native has posted the top three assist seasons in team history, and against MVSU, passed Brian Evans for the career record, sitting at 504 in his time with the team. He is eighth in the nation among active players with his 504 career dimes. He also holds the school records for free throws made (421) and attempted (605). He will set a new school mark for minutes played on Wednesday, barring unforeseen circumstances, as he needs just nine minutes to snap Evans' mark in that category.
Jordan's athleticism is nothing short of extraordinary. His running vertical has been measured at 50 inches and he has posted a standing vertical of 38 inches. He gained national notoriety with his thunderous slam dunk at St. Louis on Nov. 23, which was highlighted in the SportsCenter Top 10 and Fox Sports Live's "The 1."
His scoring prowess has improved every year, as he finished 10th in the Southland last year with a scoring average of 14.8 points per game. He did most of the damage with his athleticism, scoring 220 of his 477 points in the paint and adding another 187 from the free throw line, mostly in situations where he was fouled while driving.
This year he has been in double figures seven times, the lone exception against Radford, when he was limited due to injury. However, he has not been able to get to the rim as easily as in the past, with just 40 points in the paint (five per game).
STARK CONTRAST
When looking for a common theme that separates the Islanders in wins and losses, it is easy to see, even for a casual observer. The Islanders are struggling offensively in losing efforts, averaging a paltry 50.8 points per game, a full 19.2 points less than they are averaging in victories.
The Islanders have struggled to hit the outside shot in both wins and losses, but the major difference comes inside the arc. A&M-Corpus Christi is 69-for-160 (.431) on two-pointers in losses, but in victories that number balloons all the way to 61-for-104 (.587). Likewise, the team has struggled at the free-throw line in defeats (.663) but has actually excelled at the line in triumphs (.797).
Every player has a lower scoring average in losses than wins, but the two that have fallen off the most are Bryce Douvier (15.7 vs. 5.2) and Jelani Currie (7.7 vs. 2.6). No other player has seen his average dip more than four points.
THE SILENT ASSASSIN
One of the most softspoken players on the Islanders roster is junior Brandon Pye. But Pye's game is anything but quiet. He was one of the top three-point shooters in the nation in 2013-14, knocking down 50 percent of his threes on the year.
So far this season, he has shown more of a willingness to shoot, but also a greater willingness to take mid-range jumpers. In the season opener, he scored 10 points on 5-for-9 shooting, but came up empty on both of his shots from beyond the arc. At SLU, he went 2-for-5 from downtown, and knocked down a pair of key jumpers early in the contest. But he is hitting from the outside at just a .321 clip, a number that sits well below his career average.
He has also grown his defensive game significantly, and is a strong on-the-ball defender for A&M-Corpus Christi. That has resulted in an uptick in minutes for the junior, who has played at least 34 minutes in each of the last four contests. He has nine steals and six assists on the year.
Last year, his performance from downtown was nothing short of extraordinary. He was among the national leaders, and in conference action, he was a remarkable 24-for-37 from beyond the arc during Southland play.
SOPHOMORE SENSATION
After a strong freshman campaign, sophomore Rashawn Thomas returns as one of the top big men in the Southland Conference. The Oklahoma City native was named Second Team Preseason All-Southland by the league's coaches headed into his second campaign on the Island.
The big man missed the season opener with a hip injury, but came off the bench at Georgetown to play 17 minutes. He made the most of his time, going 3-for-5 from the field and 6-for-8 from the line for 12 points and added three blocks against the Hoyas.
In the game against SLU, he finished with 10 points, two steals and six rebounds. He was huge down the stretch, though, grabbing four rebounds in the last 2:15 and coldly drilling a pair of free throws. He had a season-best seven rebounds against Bradley.
He posted a double-double – the third of his career – with 14 points and 10 rebounds against Mississippi Valley State. He also dished out a career-high three assists in the victory. Perhaps more impressive, he accomplished the feat while playing just 23 minutes. After an off game against Radford, he added another double-double – posting 15 & 10 – in the loss to Denver. He scored a season-high 18 points last game, but was just 5-for-14 from the field and snared only six rebounds.
It is the second straight year he missed the season opener. Last year, he broke his jaw during strength training on the eve of the season opener and missed the first nine games. By the time he was able to return to the court, he had lost over 10 pounds of muscle while his solid food intake was limited. He was also forced to play with a mask until the middle of February.
His physical frame has improved even more in the offseason, as he has stretched to 6-foot-8 and now weighs in at 250 pounds.
GETTING BUSY
After playing just one game in the previous 15 days (against DU), A&M-Corpus Christi is entering its second-busiest schedule of the season. The UTSA game started a string of four contests in a span of seven days, three of those coming on the road. Perhaps more taxing is the fact that the four games come in three different time zones (Central, Mountain, Pacific).
