CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – A pair of home games are in store for the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's basketball team, who will open the weekend Saturday at 3:30 p.m. against Nicholls before taking on McNeese Monday at 6 p.m. on ESPNU in the American Bank Center.
Monday night's matchup between A&M-Corpus Christi (10-7, 3-1 SLC) and McNeese (15-2, 4-0 SLC) will be nationally broadcasted on ESPNU, with David Saltzman and Ben Braun on the call. Tip is set for 6 p.m. CT.
The Islanders will be back home after a road trip to New Orleans and Southeastern last weekend, most recently coming off a 73-68 win at SLU. It was fueled by a long-range offense as A&M-Corpus Christi converted 11 field goals from beyond-the-arc, a season-high.
Junior
Jordan Roberts was electric in that attack, going 5-of-11 from three. He finished with the team-high 17 points and was joined in double figures by junior
Garry Clark (12) and redshirt sophomore
Owen Dease (10). Roberts and Clark have scored at least 10 points in every conference game so far this season.
A&M-Corpus Christi has used a balance scoring attack this season as two Islanders average over 10 points per game. Junior
Dian Wright-Forde leads it with 11.3 while Clark trails with 11.2 points per game. The Islanders score 77.0 points per game and have 9 student-athletes scoring over 5.0 per outing.
The Islanders average 38.47 bench points per game, which ranks #1 overall in the NCAA. A&M-Corpus Christi also nationally ranks top-15 in off. rebounds per game (14.12), turnovers forced per game (16.35), fastbreak points per game (16.35), and rebounds (41.41 rpg). They lead the SLC in all.
Clark's 8.1 rpg ranks fifth in the SLC, though, he seconds the league in off. rebounds with 3.4 per game to rank 32nd in the NCAA. He is nationally ranked 39th in season double-doubles (6). Graduate
Marion Humphrey leads the SLC in assist/turnover ratio (3.3) to rank 21st in the NCAA. Senior
Lance-Amir Paul ranks fourth in FT% (.805).
A rebound-heavy team, A&M-Corpus Christi tops the conference in rebounds, off. rebounding, def. rebounding (27.4 drpg), and rebounding margin (+8.2). They also lead the league in 3FG% defense (.299).
At least seven different Islanders have grabbed a rebound in every game this year.
Nicholls (8-9, 3-1 SLC) has only dropped one conference match in a tight overtime loss to Lamar. The Colonels are led by the 16.9 scoring average of Jamal West Jr. who ranks third in the league for that mark.
McNeese is under the direction of first-year head coach Will Wade, who has led the Cowboys to a 15-2 start with wins over Michigan and Virginia Commonwealth. They are riding a 10-game winning streak into the weekend, making a stop at UIW Saturday before heading to Corpus Christi.
The game against Nicholls can be watched live with a subscription to ESPN+. Steven King will be on the call for the 3:30 p.m. CT tip.
NOTES
- A&M-Corpus Christi leads Nicholls 13-9 all-time and 7-2 at home. The Islanders swept the series last year and have won the last three meetings after winning 71-64 in the semifinals of the 2022 SLC Tournament to advance to the championship en route to winning the title.
- The Islanders are 19-5 all-time over McNeese, not having dropped a game to the Cowboys since 2012-13 to currently be on a 16-game winning streak.
- The program is 230-109 all-time at home and 6-1 this season.
- In its last home game, the Islanders had an 81-59 win over HCU to begin 2-0 in conference play. Following opening weekend, A&M-Corpus Christi's 35 made field goals, 49 rebounds, 21 assists, and 14 steals were all game-highs in SLC play among the league after opening weekend.
- The Islanders are on a campaign towards another title after head coach
Jim Shaw helped the Islanders win three conference championships in the last two seasons. It included back-to-back SLC Tournament titles and the 2022-23 SLC regular season crown. The Islanders earned the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament in consecutive seasons.
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