CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Pulling away in the second half, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's basketball program cruised to a 91-68 victory over HCU on Thursday at the American Bank Center.
Senior
Isaac Mushila tied the school record for free throw efficiency with a 14-for-14 mark. He matched Rashawn Thomas' 14-for-14 clip against McNeese on Feb. 25, 2017. Mushila turned in a double-double of 24 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
A&M-Corpus Christi (16-9, 9-3 SLC) was better than HCU (7-18, 4-8 SLC) in nearly every statistical category. It included a .500 field goal percentage for the Islanders compared to a .317 mark for the Huskies.
The Islanders played all 12 available student-athletes and carried a 33-13 advantage in points off the bench. It included 13 points from graduate
Ross Williams and 10 from freshman
Owen Dease.
Senior
Trevian Tennyson netted 18 points. Fellow senior
Terrion Murdix registered 10 points, eight assists and six rebounds.
The Huskies, who never led in the game, were led by Maks Klanjscek's 30 points and seven rebounds. He hit five threes and was 7-of-7 from the charity stripe.
Both teams got to the free throw line after 47 fouls were called. The Islanders were 29-of-36 (.806), while HCU was 20-for-29 (.690). A&M-Corpus Christi's 29 free throws made and 36 attempts were both the second-most on the season for the team.
A&M-Corpus Christi got off to a hot start and led 9-2 after a lay-up by Murdix. After HCU cut it to 15-14, Williams drained a three to spark an 8-0 spurt to stay ahead 23-14 at the 10:04 mark.
A throwdown dunk by senior
Simeon Fryer after a feed from Murdix increased it to 33-21 with 3:28 to go. The Islanders carried a 41-32 edge into the break after a pair of free throws by Mushila.
A&M-Corpus Christi scored the first four points of the second half and the lead never dipped below double-figures the rest of the way. A jumper from just outside the paint by Tennyson made it a 49-35 game with 17:20 left.
Still ahead 53-42, Williams drained back-to-back threes to fuel an 8-0 run to push it up to 61-42 with 13:23 remaining. A second chance lay-in by Mushila kept it at 74-55 with 7:39 left.
A dunk by sophomore
Connor Kern with 1:32 to go put an exclamation point on the night. A&M-Corpus Christi also garnered a bucket from freshman
Jourdyn Grandberry in the final minute to lead by 23.
The Islanders will close out the weekend against Lamar at 3:30 p.m. at the American Bank Center. The game can be watched live with a subscription to ESPN+ with Steven King on the call.
NOTES
- The Islanders improved to 14-6 all-time against HCU and 8-1 at home. A&M-Corpus Christi knocked HCU out of the SLC Tournament last year 75-60 in the quarterfinals.
- HCU's largest scoring run was five consecutive points. A&M-Corpus Christi has only given up a scoring run of 10 or more consecutive points one time this season, making them one of three teams in the nation to do so along with Auburn and Arizona.
- The Islanders are now 11-1 at home this year, 222-107 all-time at home and 147-78 at the American Bank Center.
- In two seasons under head coach
Steve Lutz, the Islanders are 16-0 when they shoot 50 percent or better from the field and 24-2 when the opposition scores below 70 points.
- A&M-Corpus Christi is 154-127 all-time in the Southland Conference since joining the league in 2006-07.
- A&M-Corpus Christi has outrebounded 11 of 12 conference opponents so far.
- The Islanders entered the game ranked ninth in the nation in free throw percentage (.776) and will improve upon their tally with a .806 night.
- Mushila turned in his 23rd career double-double and 10th this year. His 14 made free throws matched a career-high set last year at UTRGV. Mushila was 5-of-7 from the floor.
- Tennyson has scored in double-figures in all 12 conference games. It was his 40th career double-figure scoring game and 20th this season.
- Murdix entered the night leading the league in assists (5.3 apg) and dished out eight. He notched his 34th career double-figure scoring game, 17th this year and 11th in conference.
- Williams submitted his 13th double-digit scoring affair of the season. He was 3-of-5 from beyond-the-arc and 4-of-5 from the free throw line.
- Dease etched his second double-figure scoring outing in the last three games. He was two points shy of his career-high of 12 set at New Orleans. Dease made a career-high five free throws and hit a three.
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