Historic Season Ends for A&M-Corpus Christi against No. 1 Alabama in NCAA Tournament

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – One of the greatest seasons in school history came to a close Thursday for the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's basketball program in a 96-75 defeat to No. 1 Alabama in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Legacy Arena.
 
The 16th-seeded Islanders (24-11), who won both the Southland Conference regular season and tournament titles, ran into a hot-shooting Alabama (30-5) squad that went 15-of-33 (.455) from long range.
 
Still, A&M-Corpus Christi cut a 20-point halftime deficit down to 13 in the second half. The Islanders went toe-to-toe with the Crimson Tide in the second half where they were outscored by the slimmest of margins 42-41.
 
The Islanders turned the ball over just six times which tied for a season-low and outscored Alabama 12-9 in points off turnovers. A&M-Corpus Christi also held a 17-15 edge in offensive rebounding and outscored the Crimson Tide 20-18 in second chance points.
 
Senior Trevian Tennyson, an All-Conference Second-Team and All-Tournament Team selection, got hot in the second half. After not scoring in the first, he was 8-of-13 from the field in the second where he scored all 20 of his points, a game-high.
 
Breaking the school record for double-doubles in a season with 14 was senior Isaac Mushila. The All-Conference First-Team honoree registered 16 points and 15 rebounds. Senior De'Lazarus Keys also aided on the glass with 13 rebounds.
 
Big contributions off the bench came from freshman Owen Dease and graduate Ross Williams. Dease netted 14 points, his second-highest total of the year. Williams poured in 11 points and was 2-of-2 from three-point range.
 
Alabama was guided by Nick Pringle's 19 points and 15 rebounds. Brandon Miller, the SEC Player of the Year, was held scoreless.
 
The Crimson Tide opened the game on a 9-0 run before Keys hit a jumper, which started a 6-0 spurt after consecutive field goals by Dease. A three by Dease had the Islanders trailing 19-15 at the 11:49 mark.
 
Down 24-17, Alabama used a 7-0 run to go up 31-17 with 8:21 remaining. Mushila and Dease each tallied nine points in the half but the Islanders were behind 54-34 at the intermission. Alabama shot 10-of-17 (.588) from three in the half.
 
A&M-Corpus Christi opened the second half on a 10-3 run to trim it to 57-44 as Tennyson buried a pair of threes, forcing Alabama to call timeout with 16:57 left.
 
Though, the Crimson Tide answered with a 7-0 spurt to get it back up to 64-44 with 15:47 remaining.
 
A lay-up by Mushila kept A&M-Corpus Christi down 70-50 with 11:03 to go. A pair of free throws by Tennyson made it 75-56 at the 7:56 mark. A long range shot by Dease cut it to 81-65 with 5:01 left.
 
Williams hit a three as time expired for the 96-75 outcome.
 
The Islanders earned a spot in the first round after winning their first-ever NCAA Tournament game Tuesday with a 75-71 victory over SEMO in the First Four. A&M-Corpus Christi led for over 38 minutes in the game as senior Jalen Jackson guided the team with a career-high 22 points. Ironically, the 75-71 score was the same as the SLC Championship against Northwestern State.
 


NOTES
- A&M-Corpus Christi made its third NCAA Tournament appearance in school history. The Islanders have won three conference championships over the past two seasons after back-to-back SLC Tournaments and the 2023 SLC regular season title outright.
 
- The Islanders ended the year having won 13 of their final 15 games. They became the first school to win the SLC Tournament in back-to-back years since UL-Monroe in 1992-94 (tournament titles were vacated from Stephen F. Austin in 2015 and 2016).
 
- Lutz hoists a 47-23 overall record in two seasons. He was named both the 2023 SLC Coach of the Year and NABC District 22 Coach of the Year. Lutz was also tabbed a finalist for the Skip Prosser Man of the Year award, presented to those who not only achieve success on the court but who display moral integrity off of it as well.
 
- A&M-Corpus Christi entered the game ranked sixth in the nation in free throw percentage (.789) and shot 16-of-18 (.889). Dease was a perfect 4-of-4.
 
- Alabama's biggest scoring run was nine straight points. The Islanders only gave up a scoring run of 10 or more consecutive points one time in conference and just twice on the entire season.
 
- Mushila sits at 970 career points and 676 rebounds after two seasons at A&M-Corpus Christi. His 14 double-doubles on the year broke the record of 13 set by himself last year and Rashawn Thomas in 2016-17. Mushila has 27 career double-doubles and is chasing the school record of 35 set by Thomas in four seasons.
 
- Mushila led the league in rebounding this year with 9.9 per game, a school record for a season. His 346 total rebounds broke his own single-season school record of 330 last year.
 
- Tennyson is up to 971 career points after two seasons at A&M-Corpus Christi. He broke the school record for threes made in a season with 100. He surpassed Josh Washington's mark of 90 in 2006-07. Tennyson is now eyeing the career record as his 174 makes are just six behind Brandon Pye's 180 from 2012-16.
 
- Tennyson scored in double-figures in each of the last 22 games of the year. It was his 50th career double-digit scoring outing and 11th career 20-plus performance. His 551 points on the season ranks seventh all-time in single-season program history.
 
- Dease was two points shy of his career-high of 16 set in the SLC Championship against Northwestern State. Over the last three games, Dease was 6-of-9 from beyond-the-arc. It was his fifth double-figure scoring game of the season.
 
- Williams notched his 16th double-figure scoring performance of the year. He hit at least a pair of threes in each of the last three games.
 
- Keys pulled down at least 10 rebounds for the third time in the last four outings and the 11th time in his career.
 


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