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Live Stats
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi men's basketball program will open the 2020-21 season Wednesday when it hosts Texas A&M-International at 7:30 p.m. at the American Bank Center.
The game will cap a doubleheader as the Islander women host TAMIU at 5 p.m. in the game prior.
The Islanders are coming off a 14-18 (10-10 SLC) campaign in 2019-20. The team reached the SLC Championships before falling to Northwestern State in the first round 79-62.
The Islanders return their two leading scorers from last year in senior
Myles Smith and sophomore
Jordan Hairston. Smith averaged 13.2 points per game and Hairston 12.9. They are two of seven Islanders returning who saw action last season.
A&M-Corpus Christi added nine newcomers to the roster, including six transfers and three freshmen.
Head coach
Willis Wilson enters his 10th season at the helm and returns his entire coaching staff. He carries a 90-70 record against Southland Conference opponents. Wilson has won 138 games overall since arriving on The Island and is the program's career leader in coaching victories. He surpassed Ronnie Arrow for the most victories at A&M-Corpus Christi who had 134 from 1999-07.
Wilson retained his entire coaching staff. Associate head coach
Marty Gross enters his 10th season,
Mark Dannhoff enters his 11th season and
Terry Johnson begins his 7th season.
The Dustdevils finished 3-25 overall and 1-21 in the Lone Star Conference last year. Mac McConnell begins his first year after spending the previous three seasons as associate head coach at Tarleton State.
TAMIU lost its top-three leading scorers from a year ago, but return junior forward Tom Higgins who averaged 9.3 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. The program competes at the Division II level.
The game can be watched on the Islanders Digital Network with
Steven King on the call.
NOTES
- The Islanders are 5-0 all-time against the Dustdevils and have won by an average of 28.6 points. The last meeting was the closest between the two when the Islanders won 55-52 on Nov. 25, 2009.
- The Islanders are 18-3 all-time in season openers and also 18-3 in home openers.
- A&M-Corpus Christi is 198-93 all-time at home and 132-66 in the American Bank Center. The program carries over a three-game home winning streak from last season.
- The Islanders ranked 18th in the nation in 3FG% last season with a .375 mark. Their 7.7 threes made per game led to a program record 245 makes in a year. A&M-Corpus Christi brought back its top-two three-point shooters in Smith (.415) and Hairston (.444) who combined to make 111 threes.
- Smith ended the season ranked No. 39 in the nation in free throw percentage with a .864 (89-103) mark.
- Over the summer, senior
Nolan Bertain was named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Honors Court. He completed the 2019-20 academic year with a 3.86 GPA as a communications major.
- Wilson coached the Islanders to four consecutive postseason appearances in the CIT from 2013-17 including a trip to the finals in 2016-17.
Safety Protocols
- Security screening lines will be adjusted to allow for social distancing as possible.
- All Guest Services & Security staff will be required to wear facemasks and gloves at all times.
- Social Distancing Markers will be added for line queues.
- Hand sanitizing stations will be added throughout entry points and the concourse.
- Arena seats and high touch points areas will be fully sanitized after every event with hospital grade disinfectant.
- Additional housekeeping staff will be on-site to continuously clean restrooms throughout the event.
- Sneeze guards will be added at concession points of sale.
- No cash transactions at concessions.
- All shared condiment & utensil stations will be replaced with single use condiment packets and pre-packaged utensils kept behind the concession stand counters.
- All staff will complete COVID-19 screening upon entering the facility.
Stay Social
- For all the latest on Islanders Men's Basketball, be sure to follow the team on Twitter (
@Islanders_MBB), Instagram (
@IslandersMBB) and "like" the team's official Facebook page (
IslandersMBB).
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