CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – In a tale of two halves, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's basketball program erased a seven-point halftime deficit and rallied for a 75-69 victory over UTRGV on Wednesday in the South Texas Showdown, presented by NavyArmy Community Credit Union at in the American Bank Center.
With the win, A&M-Corpus Christi (8-1) is off to its best start in school history.
Furthermore, with the season sweep over the Vaqueros (4-6), A&M-Corpus Christi now leads 22-7 as an institution in the South Texas Showdown. Each win counts as three points in the 12-sport competition, and one is awarded for attendance in men's basketball, women's basketball, volleyball and baseball.
Junior
Isaac Mushila, the reigning Southland Conference Player of the Week winner, took over with 27 points and 14 rebounds, including 21 points in the second half. He was 8-of-12 from the field.
A season-high came from senior
Simeon Fryer with 18 points as he hit four three-pointers. Junior
Jalen Jackson also had a big game with 14 points.
The Islanders shot a worse percentage with a .388 mark from the field compared to UTRGV's .447, but took 20 more field goal attempts after forcing 25 turnovers. A&M-Corpus Christi garnered a +12 turnover margin.
The Vaqueros had four double-figure scorers including Ricky Nelson (17), Justin Johnson (15), Xavier Johnson (12) and RayQuan Taylor (11).
UTRGV got off to a 13-4 start, but the Islanders got it down to 16-11 at the 8:15 mark after a pair of free throws by Jackson. Though, the Vaqueros responded with a 10-0 run to jump ahead 26-11 with 6:42 left.
The Islanders used a 7-0 spurt to get the deficit down to single-figures at 29-21 after Fryer made a pair of free throws. They trailed 36-29 after a fast-break lay-up by Jackson with five seconds remaining.
A&M-Corpus Christi trailed just 38-35 with 18:09 to go in the second after a three-pointer by senior
Myles Smith, and were down just 40-39 after a lay-up by Mushila. The Islanders took their first lead of the half 50-49 after a three by Mushila at the 11:31 mark.
Still up 60-59, A&M-Corpus Christi used a pair of threes by Fryer to create slight separation 66-60 with 5:38 left. Another three by Fryer increased it to 69-60 with 3:51 remaining. The Vaqueros got the deficit down to 73-69 with 1:38 to go but the Islanders got stops defensively in the end for the win.
The Islanders will head north Saturday when they travel to Omaha for a 7 p.m. tip. It will be the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
NOTES
- A&M-Corpus Christi improved to 16-11 all-time against UTRGV and 8-6 at home. Mushila notched a double-double in both wins this year.
- The Islanders have already surpassed last season's win total by three games.
- A&M-Corpus Christi is now 206-101 all-time at home and 137-74 in the American Bank Center. The Islanders are 4-0 at home this year.
- A&M-Corpus Christi has outscored the opposition in fast break points in all nine games this year and held a 14-5 edge tonight.
- Mushila notched his fourth double-double of the season and his third 20-plus scoring outing. It was his seventh double-figure scoring game of the year and fourth double-digit rebounding affair.
- Fryer hit four threes in a game for the first time in his career. He surpassed his previous season-high of 16 points against St. Mary's. It was his 10th career double-figure scoring game and third in the last four games.
- Jackson netted his second-highest scoring total of the year and his third double-figure scoring game. He was a perfect 4-of-4 from the free throw line and hit five field goals.
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