CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Set to welcome elementary schools from West Oso ISD and CCISD, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's basketball team will tip-off against Texas Lutheran Monday at 11 a.m. in the Dugan Wellness Center for Education Day, presented by Whataburger.
The Islanders (5-5) are coming off an 86-76 revenge win at UTRGV, winning its first game this year when trailing at the half. It was largely due to junior
Garry Clark's 22-point second half who finished 12-of-15 from the field. The team itself shot 50.0 percent from the floor, outscoring the Vaqueros 60-28 in the paint. The Islanders also held a 43-28 advantage on the glass including 15-4 in offensive boards.
Clark's 26 points were the most scored by an Islander this year. His 12 made fields goals marks most made by an Islander in a game since the 2018-19 season when Kareem South made 12 against Stephen F. Austin on Feb. 20, 2019.
A&M-Corpus Christi has used a balance scoring attack this season as junior
Dian Wright-Forde leads the way with 11.0 points per game, while senior
Lance-Amir Paul averages 10.6 points per outing and Clark averages 10.0 ppg. The Islanders score 75.9 points per game and have 11 student-athletes scoring over 5.0 per outing.
Clark is the team's leading rebounder with 7.7 per outing, which ranks fifth in the Southland Conference. He also ranks second in the SLC in offensive rebounding with 3.3 per game.
As a team, the Islanders lead the conference in rebounding margin (+10.0), offensive rebounds (14.9 orpg), total rebounds (42.3 drpg), and opponent rebounds (32.3 rpg). They rank second in steals (9.60 spg), scoring margin (+6.9), scoring defense (69.0 ppg), field goal defense (.420), and three-point defense (.298).
The program is 227-109 all-time at home and 3-1 this season.
Texas Lutheran's (1-9) sole win came against Mary Hardin-Baylor in a 78-77 decision. Mason Wallace and Xavier Phillips both average double figure scoring with 13.2 and 12.0 points per game, respectively.
The game can be watched live with a subscription to ESPN+. Steven King will be on the call.
NOTES
- It will be the fifth all-time meeting between A&M-Corpus Christi and Texas Lutheran, and third in consecutive seasons. The Islanders are 4-0 against the Bulldogs and have reached the century mark in both of the last two meetings, winning 102-64 in 2021 and 100-63 in 2022.
- The Islanders have broken the century mark twice in two home games with the two largest margin of victories in school history. The 65-point win over SWAU broke the program's previous margin of victory record of 58 set on Nov. 21, 2005 in a 116-58 win over Texas A&M-International. The Islanders also tied the school record for most field goals made in a game with 46 first set on Jan. 18, 2001 against Cal Poly.
- At least seven different Islanders have grabbed a rebound in every game this year.
- A&M-Corpus Christi is 20-0 over the last three seasons when shooting over .500 FG%. The Islanders are 20-0 over the last two seasons when holding the opposition to 70 points or less.
- 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.
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