CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The South Texas Showdown presented by NavyArmy Community Credit Union continues Wednesday night when Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's basketball travels to the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley for a 7 p.m. tip in the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
The Islanders (1-0) face the Vaqueros (0-2) for the first of two meetings this season. The two teams will battle in Corpus Christi on November 29.
THE SOUTH TEXAS SHOWDOWN
• The Islanders and Vaqueros are meeting for the first time since November 2013. As part of the South Texas Showdown presented by NavyArmy Community Credit Union, the teams will play a home and home in every shared sport in 2016-17.
• A traveling trophy will be awarded at the end of each year to the institution with the most points in the showdown, UTRGV currently leads 11-9 with three points on the line Wednesday night.
• A&M-Corpus Christi has won eight straight with UTRGV dating back to February 2004. Each of the past five meetings have been decided by double digits.
OFFENSIVE OPENING
• The Islanders ran up 115 points onto the scoreboard at the American Bank Center Friday night in a 115-100 win over Our Lady of the Lake.
• The 115 points were the second most in program history.
• With 8:42 seconds to play, the Blue and Green eclipsed the century mark, leading 100-65. With a host of young players in down the stretch, turnovers allowed OLLU to close the gap to 15.
•
Rashawn Thomas had a double-double with 20 points and 12 boards while
Jake Kocher poured in a career-high 19 points off the bench.
KOCHER COOKING
• Sixth-year senior
Jake Kocher turned in a career night in the season opener, dropping in 19 points to finish as the second leading scorer.
• Kocher's 19 points surpassed his previous career best of 15 last set against Southeastern Louisiana on January 23, 2014.
• The guard was a near-perfect 8-for-9 from the field and added a pair of free throws to pile up the 19 points.
• Kocher also added a block and a pair of steals in the victory.
SPREAD SIX
• Six different Islanders scored in double figures in the 115-100 win on opening night. It was the first time the Blue and Green achieved the feat since a January 2014 meeting with Northwestern State.
•
Rashawn Thomas (20),
Jake Kocher (19),
Ehab Amin (18), Joe Kilgore (13),
Cole Martinez (12) and
Kareem South (12) each piled up a dozen or more to power the Islanders offense.
SCOUTING UTRGV
The Vaqueros enter Wednesday night at 0-2 after falling to UT Martin Sunday and Memphis on Monday night. UTRGV dropped the opener 88-80 before falling to the Tigers 94-75.
• A junior college transfer, Nick Dixon leads the Vaqueros averaging 22 points and 7.5 rebounds through two games. Dixon was a two-time NJCAA Division II All-American.
• Xavier McDaniel, Jr. and Antonio Green each add 14 points to the effort as well.
The aforementioned trio accounts for 101 of the 155 points the Vaqueros have scored this season.
• UTRGV in under the guidance of Lew Hill who is in his first season after spending the past five as an assistant at Oklahoma.
