CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – With the opportunity to win the Southland Conference regular season title this weekend, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's basketball program will host Texas A&M-Commerce at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Northwestern State at 4:30 p.m. Saturday at the American Bank Center.
The Islanders (19-9, 12-3 SLC), who are riding an eight-game winning-streak, can win at least a share of the regular season title Thursday with a win and a Northwestern State (19-9, 11-4 SLC) loss at UIW (11-17, 5-10 SLC). A&M-Corpus Christi can win the regular season title outright with wins Thursday and Saturday over the Lions (12-17, 8-7 SLC) and Demons.
Additionally, the Islanders are one victory away from clinching a top-two seed and a double bye at the SLC Tournament. A&M-Corpus Christi's eight-game winning-streak is the eighth longest active streak in the nation.
Thursday will be a Blue Out in the American Bank Center. Saturday will be Homecoming and Senior Day as the Islanders honor
Jasman Sangha,
Tyrese Nickelson,
Ross Williams,
Jalen Jackson,
Trevian Tennyson,
Isaac Mushila,
De'Lazarus Keys and manager Alannah Yeats.
Senior
Terrion Murdix is the reigning SLC Player of the Week winner, his second of the season. He stuffed the stat sheet with 19.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 3.5 steals per game in road wins at Nicholls and McNeese. As a team, the Islanders have won three SLC Player of the Week honors as Mushila was honored on Nov. 14.
The Islanders are coming off road wins at Nicholls and McNeese. It was the Colonels first home loss of the season and ended their 13-game home winning-streak. The Islanders beat the Cowboys for the 15th consecutive time dating back to 2013.
A&M-Corpus Christi has four student-athletes averaging in double-figures. Tennyson posts 15.5 points per game while Mushila nearly averages a double-double with 14.2 points and 9.7 rebounds per game. Murdix averages 13.0 points per outing and leads the conference in both assists (5.3 apg) and steals (2.3 spg). Williams scores 10.3 points per game.
A&M-Corpus Christi has outrebounded 13 of 15 conference opponents so far. The team leads the SLC in eight statistical categories including scoring, scoring defense, rebounding, assists and free throw percentage.
The Islanders have been hot from long range in conference play where they are .403 (120-298) as a team. Most notably, Tennyson is 56-of-111 (.505) and averages a team-high 18.7 points per game in conference. He's scored in double-figures in all 15 SLC games.
The Islanders rank 8th in the nation in free throw percentage (.785), 10th in steals per game (9.4) and 27th in turnovers forced per game (16.1). Individually, Murdix is 14th in steals per game (2.3), Mushila is 19th in double-doubles (11) and 19th in rebounds per game (9.7), and Tennyson is 25th in 3FGM per game (2.96).
A&M-Commerce is coming off a big road win at Nicholls 72-71. The Lions are fighting for seeding as they currently sit in fifth-place but are one game out of third, which would mean a first round bye at the SLC Tournament.
Northwestern State is the second-place team and could at least be in a tie for first with a 2-0 road weekend. The Demons have the league's leading scorer on the squad as Demarcus Sharp averages 18.2 points per game.
The Islanders beat the Demons 65-59 in the first meeting this year in Natchitoches, which was also the conference opener on Dec. 31. Murdix led all scorers with a game-high 19 points and also grabbed nine rebounds.
NOTES
- A&M-Corpus Christi is eyeing championships in back-to-back seasons for the first time in program history.
- The Islanders are one win away from their second consecutive 20-win season. Second-year head coach
Steve Lutz is the only coach in program history to reach 20 wins in his first season, let alone first two. A&M-Corpus Christi last recorded consecutive 20-win seasons in 2015-17. It would be the seventh 20-win season in program history.
- The Islanders have only given up a scoring run of 10 or more consecutive points one time this season, making them the only team in the nation to do so. Auburn, which was the only other team heading into this past weekend, gave up a 10-0 run at Vanderbilt on Saturday.
- Thursday will be the first-ever meeting between the Islanders and the Lions. A&M-Commerce competed in the Lone Star Conference prior to this year. The two teams will play twice in the final three games.
- Head coach
Steve Lutz does not have a losing record against any opponent in the Southland Conference. He's 42-21 overall in two seasons.
- A&M-Corpus Christi has the highest NET Ranking in the Southland Conference at 179. It's 14 spots ahead of the second highest ranked SLC team NW St. at 193. The Islanders are also receiving votes in the CollegeInsider Mid-Major Top-25 Poll.
- The Islanders are 12-1 at home this year. A&M-Corpus Christi is 223-107 all-time at home and 148-78 at the American Bank Center.
- In just his second season, Tennyson is chasing the school record for three-pointers made in a career. He's currently fifth with 157 and is trying to catch Brandon Pye who made 180 from 2012-16. Tennyson has made 83 this year, which is seven away from the single-season record of 90 by Josh Washington in 2006-07.
- With 11 double-doubles, Mushila is two away from tying the program's single-season record of 13 set by himself last year and Rashawn Thomas in 2016-17. The school record for career double-doubles is 35 by Thomas in four seasons, while Mushila has tallied 24 in his second season.
- In two seasons under Lutz, the Islanders are 16-0 when they shoot over 50 percent from the field and 26-2 when the opposition scores below 70 points.
- The Islanders are 9-0 SLC this year when they have more fast break points than the opposition.
- A&M-Corpus Christi is 157-127 all-time in the Southland Conference since joining the league in 2006-07.
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