Islanders Square Off with Texas Southern in First Four of NCAA Tournament

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DAYTON, Ohio – Earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's basketball program will represent the Southland Conference when it plays Texas Southern in the First Four at UD Arena on Tuesday at 5:40 p.m. (CT) on truTV.
 
A&M-Corpus Christi (23-11), which has won seven of its last eight games, won three games in three days at the SLC Tournament. It included a 74-65 victory over top-seeded Nicholls where the Islanders never trailed in the second half.
 
The Islanders defeated second-seeded Southeastern 73-65 in the finals after using a balanced attack; junior Terrion Murdix registered a team-high 13 points and five steals.
 
A&M-Corpus Christi ranks second in the nation in free throws made (563), third in free throw attempts (757), 12th in offensive rebounds per game (12.9 orpg) and top-15 in turnovers forced per game (16.6).
 
A&M-Corpus Christi landed a pair of All-Conference honorees including junior Isaac Mushila who was named the SLC Newcomer of the Year. Mushila was tabbed to the All-Conference Second-Team and junior Trevian Tennyson to the Third-Team. Murdix grabbed a spot on the All-Defensive Team.
 
Mushila is ninth in the country in offensive rebounds per game (3.62) and pulled down five in the championship game of the SLC Tournament. He's also 11th in total rebounds (322), 13th in free throws made (158), 16th in free throw attempts (201) and top-20 in double-doubles (13).
 
Mushila won two Southland Conference Player of the Week awards this season. He nearly averages a double-double with 13.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game, including 13.4 points and 10.7 rebounds in conference games. Mushila has 13 double-doubles on the year. Mushila, who did not start until the fifth game, has netted over 20 points five times.
 
Senior Simeon Fryer is the only student-athlete on the roster to start in every game this year. He caught fire in the conference tournament where he was 10-of-19 from three-point range. Fryer is shooting .370 from long range which is a significant improvement from his .224 from last year. Fryer is averaging 8.4 points per game.
 
Fryer was named to the All-Tournament Team along with Murdix who was the SLC Tournament MVP.  Murdix was also named to the SLC All-Defensive Team after leading the team and ranking third in the conference in steals. He averaged two steals per game and grabbed a season-high of five steals against Northwestern State. Murdix averaged 12.2 points per game in conference.
 
Tennyson averages 11.8 points per game on the season. He hit a three-pointer in every regular season game and shoots .366 (71-194) from long-range.
 
Senior Myles Smith continues to climb the school record books. He ranks fourth all-time in three-pointers made (162), sixth in assists (290), sixth in minutes (3,214) and ninth in double-figure scoring games (58). Smith has scored 1,190 points and is averaging 7.3 points per game this year.
 
Texas Southern (18-12) will represent the Southwestern Athletic Conference after winning the SWAC Tournament as the No. 2 seed.  The Tigers recorded non-conference road wins at Florida 69-54 and UTRGV 70-60. TSU went 13-5 in conference to finish second.

Like the Islanders, Texas Southern uses a very balanced scoring attack. John Walker III leads the team with 9.9 points per game. PJ Henry was named the SWAC Tournament MVP and scores 8.3 points per game on the year.
 
The winner of Tuesday's matchup will meet top-seeded Kansas at 8:57 p.m. Thursday in Forth Worth, Texas on truTV.
 
NOTES
- A&M-Corpus Christi will make its second-ever NCAA Tournament appearance and first since 2006-07, which was also the first year the program was in a conference. The men's basketball program is only in its 23rd season and began in 1999-00. Prior to 2006-07, the Islanders competed as an NCAA Division I Independent.
 
- In the 2007 NCAA Tournament, the 15th-seeded Islanders led No. 2 Wisconsin 25-7 at the 5:29 mark of the first half before falling 76-63.
 
- The Islanders are 2-1 all-time against Texas Southern but the two teams have not played since 2007-08. It's the first meeting on a neutral court.
 
- A&M-Corpus Christi has more-than quadrupled its win total from last season when it finished 5-19 overall. It marked the largest year-to-year turnaround in program history. It's currently tied for the largest turnaround in the country (18 wins) with Iowa State from last year.
 
- The Islanders recorded their sixth 20-win season in program history and first since 2016-17.
 
- All 13 student-athletes that have played this year have scored in double-figures in a game. The 13 is tied for the most in the nation with Bowling Green.
 
- A&M-Corpus Christi is 17-0 this season when holding the opposition to 70 points or less. The Islanders held all three opponents to under 70 in the SLC Tournament.
 
- The Islanders finished 9-4 at home this year and are 211-105 all-time at home and 140-77 all-time in the American Bank Center.
 
- A&M-Corpus Christi is the only team in the SLC to have received votes this year in the CollegeInsider Mid Major Top-25 Poll.
 
- The last time anyone on A&M-Corpus Christi scored 30 points in a game was Myles Smith against Central Arkansas on Dec. 21, 2019.
 
- A&M-Corpus Christi has seven student-athletes who score at least 6.6 points per game.
 
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