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DALLAS – On the road for the first time this year, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's basketball program will head to SMU at 7 p.m. Monday at Moody Coliseum, and UT Rio Grande Valley at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Bert Ogden Arena.
A&M-Corpus Christi's (1-1) game against UTRGV (1-0) will be a doubleheader tip-off for the South Texas Showdown, an annual rivalry where the two institutions face-off against each other across nearly all sports. The Islanders hold a 3-1 lead in the yearly standings. In men's basketball, A&M-Corpus Christi won both meetings last season, 63-55 at home and 55-52 on the road.
First up though is a talented SMU (1-0) squad that opened the season with a convincing 97-67 win over Southland Conference member Sam Houston State. It was the team's largest season opening victory in over 20 years.
The Islanders are looking to shake-off a 75-63 defeat to Texas State in their last outing. The teams were even in both rebounding 32-32 and turnovers 15-15, but the Bobcats shot .542 from the field compared to .340 for A&M-Corpus Christi.
Junior
Rasheed Browne has made an immediate impact in his first two games as an Islander. He's averaged 15.5 points and 6.0 rebounds and is a perfect 10-10 from the free throw line. Browne netted 20 points in the season opener against Texas A&M-International.
Sophomore
Jalen White is averaging a double-double of 11.5 points and 10.0 rebounds per outing. He registered career-highs of 14 points and 14 rebounds against the Dust Devils.
The Mustangs finished 2019-20 with a 19-11 overall record and 9-9 in the AAC. They went 15-2 at Moody Coliseum, including 8-1 in league play. SMU led the AAC in scoring (72.9), field goal percentage (.451), free throw percentage (.762), assists (15.6) and assist:turnover ratio (1.2). SMU was picked to finish third in the AAC preseason poll.
The Vaqueros are coming off an 81-64 win over UTSA after dropping their season opener 91-55 at Texas. UTRGV outscored UTSA 47-35 in the second half to come back and used 20 points and six rebounds from Sean Rhea. The program finished 14-16 overall and 9-9 in the WAC last year. They were picked to finish third in the WAC preseason poll.
Both of A&M-Corpus Christi's games this week can be heard live on News Talk K-E-Y-S, 1440 AM/98.7 FM with
Steven King on the calls.
NOTES
- It's just the second-ever meeting between the Islanders and Mustangs and first since Dec. 31, 2008 when SMU came out on top 92-62.
- The Islanders are 14-9 all-time against the Vaqueros and 7-4 on the road.
- Texas A&M-Corpus Christi began its 22nd season of basketball with a 64-53 victory over Texas A&M-International. The Islanders improved to 6-0 all-time in the series. They are now 19-3 all-time in season openers and also 19-3 in home openers.
- The Islanders returned 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.
- 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.
- Head coach
Willis Wilson is in his 10th season at the helm and returned his entire coaching staff. He carries a 90-70 record against Southland Conference opponents. Wilson has won 139 games overall since arriving at The Island University 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.
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