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EDINBURG, Texas – Riding a four-game winning streak, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's basketball program will head to UTRGV Fieldhouse at 7 p.m. Wednesday for a match-up against the Vaqueros in the South Texas Showdown, presented by NavyArmy Community Credit Union.
The Showdown is an annual rivalry series in which A&M-Corpus Christi and UTRGV compete against each other in 12 sports. The Islanders lead the all-time series 4-1. This year, A&M-Corpus Christi is ahead 16-6 with each win counting as three points and one point being awarded for attendance for men's basketball, women's basketball, volleyball and baseball.
The Islanders are off to a 5-1 start on the year, which is their best since 2016-17. The winning streak includes victories over IUPUI, Denver, UTSA and St. Mary's (TX).
A&M-Corpus Christi has already matched its win total from last season.
Junior
Isaac Mushila nearly averages a double-double of 13.8 points and 9.7 rebounds per game. He ranks first in the Southland Conference in both rebounding and field goal percentage (.698). Mushila won SLC Player of the Week on Nov. 22, becoming the first Islander to do so since Feb. 20, 2017. He was named to the UTSA All-Tournament Team along with senior
De'Lazarus Keys.
As a team, the Islanders rank first in the SLC in field goal percentage (.486) and rebounding margin (+6.3). They are second in scoring defense (67.8), field goal percentage defense (.409) and assists (16.8 apg).
A&M-Corpus Christi has outscored the opposition in points in the paint and in fast break points in all six games this year. The team is 5-0 when it outscores the opposition off the bench.
The Vaqueros hung tough against No. 14 Illinois in their last outing 94-85 on the road. In the two games prior, they beat Northern Arizona 82-80 on the road and Cal State Fullerton 72-67 on a neutral court.
Justin Johnson leads the team with 19.0 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. He's in his first season with the program after transferring from Southern Miss.
The game can be watched on ESPN+ with a subscription or heard live for free on 1440 AM K-E-Y-S with
Steven King on the call.
NOTES
- A&M-Corpus Christi is 14-11 all-time against UTRGV and 7-5 on the road. Though, the Vaqueros won both meetings last season.
- The Islanders won the UTSA Tournament. It was the first time in school history that they won a preseason tournament of at least three games. A&M-Corpus Christi beat IUPUI, Denver and the host UTSA. It was the first time since 2016-17 that the Islanders topped three Division I schools in non-conference play.
- The Islanders are coming off a win over St. Mary's (TX). Before the game, they honored senior
Myles Smith in becoming a 1,000-point career scorer. Smith surpassed 1,000 against the Aggies and is up to 1,035. He was named to the Preseason All-Conference First-Team. Two years ago, he was the team's leading scorer with 13.5 points per outing. Smith ranks sixth all-time in school history three-pointers made and seventh in assists. He currently leads the league in assist:turnover ratio with a 2.7 mark.
- Junior
Terrion Murdix ranks first in the conference in assists (4.7 apg) and is second in both assist:turnover ratio (2.3) and steals (2.0 spg). Murdix has grabbed at least one steal in every game this year.
- A&M-Corpus Christi has used a balanced scoring attack thus far. It has six student-athletes who score at least 8.2 points per game.
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