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ISLANDERS (7-8, 2-1) AT
NICHOLLS (4-9, 1-2)
Saturday, Jan. 17 • 3:30 p.m.
STOPHER GYM • THIBODAUX, LA.
TICKETS
LIVE: Stats | Audio | Video | Twitter
RADIO: NEWSRADIO 1360 KKTX (Yannis Koutroupis)
GAME NOTES: Islanders
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THE OPENING TIP
The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's basketball team looks to rebound from its first conference loss of the 2015 season when it takes the road for a matchup against Nicholls on Saturday, Jan. 17.
QUICK HITS
• Senior John Jordan has been on a roll offensively as of late, averaging 17.8 points over the last eight games. He has gone 41-for-85 (.482) from the field and is averaging 5.8 assists in the span, during which the Islanders have averaged 73.0 points per game.
• A&M-Corpus Christi has been strong defensively in conference play, forcing an average of 16.3 turnovers in the three games. They have totaled 28 steals and have manufactured the 49 turnovers into 57 points.
• Sophomore Rashawn Thomas has six double-doubles in his last 11 games after just two during his freshman campaign. He has back-to-back double-doubles and is averaging 15.7 points and 12.7 boards in league action.
• The Islanders have done a much better job of holding on to the basketball as of late. In league play, they have totaled 35 turns (11.6 average). The last two games have seen the team with 10 and 11 turnovers, respectively, the two lowest totals this year.
• Brandon Pye has shown no signs of rust after missing three games earlier with an ankle injury. He scored a career-high 21 points against Lamar on Monday, including 15 before halftime.
• John Jordan has moved into third on the career scoring list for the Islanders, with only Chris Daniels (1,407) and Michael Hicks (1,324) ahead of his 1,275 points in an Islanders uniform.
• The Islanders went 8-for-15 from downtown against Lamar, matching their best percentage of the season (.533). However, the team shot just .500 from the free-throw line and .452 inside the arc.
• Bryce Douvier had a nice bounceback against Lamar with 13 points and seven rebounds. He went 3-for-4 from beyond the arc, his only miss a shot at the final buzzer.
• A&M-Corpus Christi is 7-3 against Nicholls in the Islanders era, including three straight wins over the Colonels.
LAST TIME OUT
Brandon Pye scored a career-high 21 points and Rashawn Thomas had his sixth double-double of the season, but a late goaltending call gave Lamar a 66-64 victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Monday at the American Bank Center.
Anthony Holliday scored 25 points and had eight assists for the Cardinals, who won for the sixth time in seven games and improved to 9-7 on the season (3-1 Southland). Bryce Douvier added 13 points and seven rebounds, while John Jordan dished out nine assists for the Islanders (7-8, 2-1).
THE ALL-TIME SERIES
The Islanders and Colonels will take to the court for the 11th time on Saturday and the sixth in Thibodaux. All the matchups have come in conference play. A&M-Corpus Christi holds a 7-3 all-time record against Nicholls with a 3-2 mark in Stopher Gym. The games have all been close in Thibodaux, with the Islanders' three wins coming by an average of 2.3 points. All five games were decided by seven points or less.
During the Willis Wilson era, the Islanders are 3-2 against Nicholls, sweeping the two games in Thibodaux last year and winning the finale in 2012-13. In last year's matchups, the Islanders limited Nicholls to an average of 55.5 points. A&M-Corpus Christi didn't see any player average 10 points against the Colonels, but eight different players averaged at least five.
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).
He now is up to 1,275 points in his four years in an Islanders uniform to sit third in Islanders lore. Only Islanders legends Chris Daniels (1,407) and Michael Hicks (1,324) scored more points than Jordan has in his career. He needs to average just 8.3 points the rest of the year in order to top Daniels' career mark.
He has also set school records for minutes (3,651) and assists (548) this season, taking both marks from former Islander Brian Evans. He is averaging 38.3 minutes per game in league play, including playing all 40 minutes of the game against McNeese State.
In conference action he has upped his distribution, totaling 23 assists to just seven turnovers. He posted eight assists and just one turnover against McNeese and had nine dimes to two turns in the Lamar game. His 7.7 assists and 3.3:1 assist:turnover ratio are both tops in the Southland among point guards.
Jordan is also one of the best players in the country at getting to the free-throw line. He has gotten to the stripe 140 times this year, the fourth most in the NCAA. He is one of just six players in the nation with 100 made free throws or more.
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. He has seven dunks this season, including three in league play.
TAKEAWAY TURN-UP
The Islanders have ratcheted up the defensive pressure more often over the last several games, implementing full-court pressure and trapping at different intervals throughout games. This has seen some solid success, particularly with the play of guards Emmanuel Toney, Ehab Amin and John Jordan, who have seen a sharp uptick in their steals and fast-break points.
Against UCA in the first half, the Islanders wound up with 10 steals to force the Bears into 13 turnovers. They made the most of this opportunity, turning the turnovers into 15 points and six points on the fast break. This also led to strong offensive efficiency for the road squad, as the Islanders assisted on all 12 baskets in the first half.
A&M-Corpus Christi has at least six steals in seven of the last eight games, averaging 7.1 takeaways in that span. Jelani Currie (12), Toney (11) and Jordan (10) top the team in steals over the span. In league play, the Islanders have delivered 28 takeaways in the three games, and have forced a total of 49 turnovers. A&M-Corpus Christi has turned those 49 into 57 points, an impressive average of 1.16 points per possession after a turnover.
IN CONTROL
In contrast, the Islanders have improved their ballhandling as of late and have limited the turnovers on the offensive end. A&M-Corpus Christi has committed just 35 turnovers in three league games (11.6 average) – the best three-game span of the season in that department.
The Islanders turned the ball over a season-low 10 times in the win over McNeese State and had just 11 turnovers against Lamar – the second fewest of the season in a game. Islanders opponents have scored 31 points per game off turnovers in the last three games, giving the Islanders a 26-point advantage cumulatively and a 8.7-point average edge in the category.
On the season, the Islanders have still committed one more turnover than their opposition, for an average margin of minus-0.1, which ranks them in the middle of the pack (7th) in the conference. In league play, however, the margin of plus-4.7 is second in the conference. League leader Stephen F. Austin has racked up a whopping plus-11.0 average margin in the turnover battle.
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.
After a somewhat slow start, he has turned it up over the last 11 games, with six double-doubles in that span. The hot streak started with 14 points and 10 rebounds against Mississippi Valley State. Perhaps more impressive, he accomplished the feat while playing just 23 minutes. He added another double-double – posting 15 & 10 – in the first game with Denver.
But over the last seven games, he has raised his game to another level. He has averaged 14.4 points and 11.1 rebounds, finishing in double figures in scoring six times and in rebounds four. In addition to his four double-doubles in the last seven, he narrowly missed a fifth, finishing with nine boards at UCA.
In his last four games, he is averaging 13.0 boards, including 14 against Jarvis Christian and Lamar and 15 against McNeese - the top three performances in his career. With 21 and 15 against the Cowboys, he became the first Islander with 20+ points and 15+ rebounds since Chris Hawkins-Mast against Northwestern State in 2012. After posting 15 & 14 against Lamar, he became the first Islander with consecutive double-doubles since Zane Knowles did so against Oral Roberts and Houston Baptist last year.
Last year, he broke his jaw during strength training on the eve of the season opener and missed the first nine games, losing significan strength while he was sidelined. But he worked hard in the offseason, and his physical frame has improved even more in the offseason. He has stretched to 6-foot-8 and now weighs in at 250 pounds.
YOU CAN ALWAYS GO…DOWNTOWN
A&M-Corpus Christi had one of its best games of the season from beyond the arc against Lamar, hitting 8-of-15 from downtown. That matched the best percentage of the season (Cal State Fullerton). The common theme in both those games is Bryce Douvier, who hit 3-of-4 triples in each.
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.
So far this season, he has been much more assertive on the offensive end, taking an average of 7.8 shots per game and 4.0 three pointers per contest. His mid-range game has grown significantly, as he has improved his ability to free himself with a head fake and knock down a 15-footer.
He got off to a slow start from beyond the arc in non-conference play, hitting just 11-of-33 from downtown. Then, to compound things, he suffered an ankle injury prior to the Cal State Northridge contest that caused him to miss the next three games.
But he came back strong with the advent of league play, posting 13 at Central Arkansas in his return to the floor and seven more against McNeese State. Then, his signature performance came against Lamar, as he scored a career-high 21 points (15 in the first half) and went 5-for-8 from three-point range to lead the Islanders. He has hit 7-of-15 triples in three conference games, as he looks to replicate last year's league success from behind the arc. He hit 24-of-37 treys in conference action, as his .649 percentage led the league by a wide margin.
This year, he has 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 played at least 34 minutes in each the last five games before he suffered his injury. His 31.0 minutes are second behind only John Jordan on the team.
