Wrecking the Wildcats

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Coast to coast. That's the fashion in which Texas A&M-Corpus Christi rolled past Abilene Christian 72-60 Saturday night on Stripes Court at the American Bank Center.
 
Rashawn Thomas notched his second consecutive double-double with a game-high 28 points and 11 rebounds. It's the third time the Islanders' big man has recorded back-to-back double-doubles this season.
 
When Thomas was not hurting the Wildcats (8-12, 2-7), it was guard Ehab Amin who wreaked havoc. Amin was dead-eyed Saturday night, knocking down a career-high four three-pointers for the third time. Overall, he was 8-for-11 from the floor and a perfect 3-for-3 at the line.
 
"From a spectator standpoint," said head coach Willis Wilson, "it's just good basketball where we did a lot of good things. From a coaching standpoint, it's nice to see what we are working on in practice begin to carry over into games. We spend a lot of time working in particular areas, trying to be more consistent and assertive and I thought that showed up for us today."
 
Just 48 seconds into the game, Joseph Kilgore banged home a triple off an assist from Thomas and the game was never level again. As ACU closed to within 23-20, Thomas exploded, going on a 11-0 run all by himself to give the Islanders (11-9, 4-5) a double-digit cushion.

In the second half, ACU got only as close as nine as the Islanders held any thoughts of a Wildcat comeback at bay.
 
HOT SHOOTING ISLANDERS
 
A&M-Corpus Christi hit four of its first five attempts beyond the arc en route to a five 3-ball first half. The Islanders finished with eight three-pointers on the night, making it back-to-back games with eight knockdowns.
 
Prior to this week, the Islanders had gone 14-straight games without making eight from downtown.

E from downtown! ???? are 4-of-5 from beyond the arc to start the game #GoDers pic.twitter.com/UkRdlilpSf

— Islanders MBB (@IslandersMBB) January 29, 2017

 
LOCKDOWN D
 
The Islanders produced one of their best defensive efforts of the season, holding ACU to 18-of-47 from the field. At .383, the Blue and Green cooked up its second-best performance of the season. It was the first time in 14 games the Islanders held an opponent under 40-percent from the field.
 
KEEP ROLLING WEDNESDAY
 
The Islanders aim to make it a streak, as they go for their third win in-a-row Wednesday night versus Houston Baptist at the American Bank Center.