EDINBURG, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's basketball team will rematch UTRGV Friday at 6:30 p.m. for game two of the South Texas Showdown, presented by Rally Credit Union.
The Islanders (4-5) look to avenge a 76-74 loss in the first meeting with UTRGV (3-7) after it came down to the final possession. The Islanders outrebounded the Vaqueros by 20 and outscored them 14-0 in second chance points, only allowing UTRGV to grab one offensive rebound.
Junior
Dian Wright-Forde and senior
Lance-Amir Paul both turned in 20+ point performances against the Vaqueros with 21 and 20, respectively. It was the first time since the 2022-23 regular season finale that two Islanders scored 20 or more points in the same game. The 21 points by Wright-Forde is the most by an Islander in a game this year.
Though, the Islanders are coming off a 62-58 win over Omaha sandwiched between the two meetings with UTRGV. Redshirt senior
Dayne Prim, the reigning SLC Player of the Week, poured in 19 points after nailing three field goals from beyond-the-arc to help A&M-Corpus Christi edge the Mavericks.
It was the second win of the year that the Islanders won by a narrow four points. The first was a 67-63 victory at UTEP, which marked the first career road win for head coach
Jim Shaw, who ironically earned his master's degree from UTEP in 2005. He will now be looking for back-to-back wins on the road.
A&M-Corpus Christi has used a balance scoring attack this season as Wright-Forde leads the way with 11.0 points per game, while Paul averages 10.6 points per outing. The Islanders score 74.8 points per game and have 11 student-athletes scoring over 5.0 per outing, ranking fourth in the NCAA in bench points per game (38.89 bppg).
Junior
Garry Clark is the team's leading rebounder with 7.4 per outing, which ranks fifth in the Southland Conference. He scores 7.6 points per game and also ranks third in the SLC in offensive rebounding with 3.1 per game.
As a team, the Islanders lead the conference in rebounding margin (+9.4), offensive rebounds (14.9 orpg), and total rebounds (42.3 drpg).
The South Texas Showdown, presented by Rally Credit Union, is an annual rivalry series in which Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (3-4) and UTRGV (2-7) compete against each other in 12 sports, including twice in basketball. The Islanders lead the all-time series 5-2.
The game will be available to watch live with a subscription to ESPN+. It can also be heard live for free on 1440 AM/98.7 FM NewsTalk K-E-Y-S with Steven King on the call.
NOTES
- It will be the backend of the two-game series for the Islanders and UTRGV this season after the teams met less than 10 days prior. A&M-Corpus Christi is 17-13 all-time over the Vaqueros and 8-6 when the teams play in Edinburg.
- A&M-Corpus Christi is now 20-0 over the last two seasons when holding the opposition to 70 points or less. The Islanders are 19-0 over the last three seasons when shooting over .500 FG%.
- At least seven different Islanders have grabbed a rebound in every game this year.
- The Islanders are one of six teams in the country to return zero total starts from last year along with Northwestern State, Notre Dame, Tulsa, UMBC and Utah State.
- The Islanders are one of nine teams in the nation who have student-athletes from 10 or more different states on their roster along with Navy, UW-Milwaukee, Missouri, Youngstown State, VMI, Louisville, Boston College and Richmond.
- Prim is the reigning SLC Player of the Week after shooting 58.3 percent from the field off seven made field goals. It included three from beyond-the-arc, all of which came against Omaha where he poured in a season-high 19 points to aid in the team's 62-58 win over the Mavericks. The three made three-pointers is a career-high for the forward.
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