Islanders face SEC test at Tennessee

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - The Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi men's basketball team will travel to Knoxville, Tenn., to take on the University of Tennessee on Sunday, Dec. 2, at Thompson-Boling Arena at 11 a.m. CST. The game will be broadcasted live on the SEC Network and fans can tune in to 1440 AM KEYS for the Islanders' radio broadcast.

Islanders at No. 6/7 Tennessee (5-1)
Sunday, Dec. 2, 2018  -  11 a.m. (CST)
Thompson-Boling Arena - Knoxville, Tenn.
First Meeting
Live Stats: HERE
Live Video: SEC Network
Radio: KEYS 1440 AM
Watch Party: Outback Steakhouse

HISTORY WITH TENNESSEE & THE SEC
- Sunday will be the first meeting between the two schools.
- All-time, the Islanders are 2-14 against SEC schools with matchups against Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, LSU, Mississippi, Ole Miss, Texas A&M and Missouri.
- The Islanders got wins over Georgia, 80-79, in overtime in Athens on Dec. 22, 2008 and beat Texas A&M, 82-80, in College Station back on Dec. 13, 2003.

TENNESSEE (5-1) NOTEABLES
- Entering the week, the Volunteers were ranked No. 6 in the AP poll and No. 7 in the USA Today Coaches poll.
- The lone setback on the season for UT came in an 87-81 loss to Kansas on a neutral floor in Brooklyn, N.Y. on Nov. 23 in the NIT Season Tip-Off.
- The Volunteers are 4-0 at home this year with wins over Lenoir-Rhyne, Louisiana, Georgia Tech and Eastern Kentucky.
- Grant Williams has scored in double-figures in all six games and leads the team with 21.5 points and 8.8 rebounds per outing.
- As a team, Tennessee is ranked second nationally at 21.2 assists per game and 14th with a 1.69 assist-to-turnover ratio.
- The Volunteer defense has held opponents to a 36.1 field goal percentage, the 11th lowest mark in the country this season.
- Head Coach Rick Barnes is in his 32nd year of coaching with a career record of 666-359. He is in his fourth season at Tennessee with a record of 62-45.

ISLANDERS LAST TIME OUT
- The Islanders got 20 points from Myles Smith but fell to UTRGV, 68-59, on Monday evening in a road game in Edinburg, Texas.
- Kareem South grabbed a game-high eight rebounds and tied for the team-high of three assists with Emmanuel Toney.
- A&M-Corpus Christi outrebounded UTRGV, 34-31, and held a 28-24 advantage in points in the paint.

WINNING TRENDS
- In the Islanders four victories this season, the team has gotten a balanced scoring attack from Kareem South (12.8), Myles Smith (11.5), Emmanuel Toney (10.3) and Tony Lewis (10.0).
- During those four wins, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi has outrebounded opponents 173-122 (43.2-30.5) and maintained a +6.8 turnover margin (10.8-17.5).
- The Islanders' rebounding margin of +12.8 takes a turn in the team's three losses, falling to +0.3 and the turnover margin falls to -2.7.
- Getting off to good starts is also key. In the four wins, A&M-Corpus Christi averages 36.75 points in the first half. In the three losses, the team averages just 30.0 points.

CONTRIBUTIONS A TEAM EFFORT
- Already this season, the Islanders have had multiple players step up during games. Five different players have led the team in scoring this season and four different players have led the team in rebounding.
- Myles Smith has three high-point totals to his credit while Jashawn Talton has led or tied for the team in rebounding three times.
- Nine players this year are averaging 10 or more minutes in games.

UP NEXT
- A&M Corpus Christi will head return home to face Texas State on Wednesday, Dec. 5, at the American Bank Center at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcasted live on ElevenSports as part of the Southland Digital Network. An audio broadcast of the game will be available on the Islander Digital Network, powered by AEP Texas.

For all the latest on Islanders Men's Basketball, be sure to follow the team on Twitter (@IslandersMBB), Instagram (@IslandersMBB) and like the team's official Facebook page (IslandersMBB).