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KATY, Texas – After earning a first round bye, the fourth-seeded Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's basketball program found out it will play fifth-seeded HBU at 5 p.m. Thursday in the quarterfinals of the SLC Championship at the Merrell Center.
The Islanders (20-11, 7-7 SLC), who enter play having won four of their last five games, had to await the winner of HBU (11-17, 6-8 SLC) and UIW in the first round, which the Huskies pulled out 74-64 Wednesday evening.
The Islanders are playing for their first SLC Tournament title since 2006-07 when they beat Northwestern State 81-78 in the championship. They are playing for their third conference championship after also winning the regular season in 2006-07.
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. Junior
Terrion Murdix grabbed a spot on the All-Defensive Team.
Mushila won two Southland Conference Player of the Week awards this season. He nearly averages a double-double with 14.1 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.
Tennyson averages 12.5 points per game on the season. He hit a three-pointer in every game and shot .372 (70-188) from long-range. He's third in the league in three-pointers made per game.
Murdix led the team and ranked third in the conference in steals with 62 on the year. 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.
Senior
Myles Smith continues to climb the school record books. He ranks fourth all-time in three-pointers made (160), sixth in assists (284), sixth in minutes (3,174) and ninth in double-figure scoring games (58). Smith has scored 1,180 points and is averaging 7.8 points per game this year.
A&M-Corpus Christi ranks ninth in the nation in offensive rebounds per game (13.13), 12th in the turnovers forced per game (17.03) and 18th in steals per game (8.9). Individually, Mushila is eighth in the country in offensive rebounds per game (3.55), 22nd in double-doubles (12) and 24th in rebounds per game (9.5).
All 13 student-athletes that have played for A&M-Corpus Christi this year have scored in double-figures in a game. The 13 is tied for the most in the nation with Bowling Green.
HBU clinched the No. 5 seed after outlasting McNeese in a four-overtime thriller 149-144 in the regular season finale. After a 52-point performance, senior Darius Lee was named to the All-Conference Second-Team and All-Defensive Team. He averaged 18.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and a league-leading 2.4 steals per game on the year.
Thursday's game can be watched on ESPN+ or heard live for free on 1440 AM NewsTalk K-E-Y-S with
Steven King on the call.
NOTES
- The Islanders are 12-5 all-time against HBU and split the season series this year, each winning on the road. It will be the first-ever meeting between the two programs on a neutral court.
- A&M-Corpus Christi quadrupled its win total from last season when it finished 5-19 overall. It marked the largest year-to-year turnaround in program history.
- The Islanders recorded their sixth 20-win season in program history and first since 2016-17. The program began in 1999-00.
- A&M-Corpus Christi is 14-0 this season when holding the opposition to 70 points or less.
- 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.
- A&M-Corpus Christi honored
Simeon Fryer,
Ethan White and
San Antonio Brinson in a special ceremony on Senior Night prior to the game against Nicholls on March 2.
- Fryer is the only student-athlete on the roster to start in every game this year. He's shooting .345 from long range which is a significant improvement from his .224 from last year. Fryer is averaging 7.8 points per game.
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