AUSTIN, Texas – Facing its second ranked opponent of the season, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's basketball team will take on No. 19 Texas Friday at 2 p.m. in the Moody Center.
The Islanders (6-5) will be going up against its third Big 12 school of the season and second ranked opponent after facing Texas Tech and No. 7 Houston earlier this year. They will be going for their first-ever win over a ranked opponent in program history. The last victory over a Power Five program came on Nov. 13, 2009, when they topped Oregon State 67-43.
A&M-Corpus Christi is coming off a 102-50 win at home against Texas Lutheran. They have now broken the century mark three times at home this year.
It is also the second game in a row that A&M-Corpus Christi shot at least 50.0 percent from the field, turning in a 53.6 shooting day as a team. Five Islanders scored in double figures, including senior
Lance-Amir Paul (14), junior
Jordan Roberts (14), junior
Shilo Jackson (12), junior
Garry Clark (12), and redshirt sophomore
Owen Dease (10).
A&M-Corpus Christi has used a balance scoring attack this season as three Islanders average over 10 points per game. Paul leads it with 10.9 ppg, while junior
Dian Wright-Forde averages 10.6 points per game and Clark averages 10.2 ppg. The Islanders score 78.3 points per game and have 11 student-athletes scoring over 5.0 per outing.
The Islanders also average 41.09 bench points per game, which leads the NCAA.
Clark is the team's leading rebounder with 7.9 per outing, which ranks fifth in the Southland Conference. He also ranks second in the SLC in offensive rebounding with 3.4 per game.
As a team, the Islanders lead the conference in rebounding margin (+10.1), offensive rebounds (14.5 orpg), total rebounds (42.6 drpg), defensive rebounds (28.2 drpg), opponent rebounds (32.5 rpg), and three-point defense (.289).
The Islanders have won their last two away games, knocking off UTEP 67-63 and UTRGV 86-76 on the road.
Texas (8-2) is 6-0 in the Moody Center this year, posting a +24.0-scoring margin on its home court. The Longhorns have a slew of players averaging in double figure scoring with Max Abmas and Dylan Disu both averaging over 17 points per outing.
The game can be watched live on the Longhorn Network, or can be listened to live for free on 1440 AM K-E-Y-S with Steven King on the call.
NOTES
- It will be the fifth all-time meeting between A&M-Corpus Christi and Texas, and first since the 2015-16 season. The Islanders will be going for their first win over the Longhorns.
- A&M-Corpus Christi is 21-0 over the last three seasons when shooting over .500 FG%. The Islanders are 21-0 over the last two seasons when holding the opposition to 70 points or less.
- 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.
- In its last road game, the Islanders had an 86-76 revenge win at UTRGV, winning its first game this year when trailing at the half. It was largely due to 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.
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