NATCHITOCHES, La. – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's basketball team returns to the road to meet Northwestern State Saturday at 3 p.m. and Texas A&M-Commerce Monday at 7 p.m.
The Islanders (11-8, 4-2 SLC) will look to bounce back after a tough 62-61 loss against McNeese at the buzzer. The game-long fight came between the top two teams in the league, who entered the night combining to lead the league in scoring defense, scoring margin, FG% defense, rebounding margin, turnover margin, and steals.
Junior
Jordan Roberts led the game with 18 points. He has scored at least 10 points in five conference games to averaged 11.7 ppg in league play, significantly improving from his 3.9 mark last season.
A&M-Corpus Christi has used a balance scoring attack this season as two Islanders average over 10 points per game on the year. Clark leads it with 11.7 ppg while junior
Dian Wright-Forde trails at 11.1. The Islanders score 75.7 points per game and have 9 student-athletes scoring over 5.0 per outing.
The Islanders also average 36.84 bench points per game, which ranks #4 overall in the NCAA. A&M-Corpus Christi also nationally ranks top-15 in turnovers forced per game (16.21), steals per game (9.7), off. rebounds per game (14.00), and rebounds per game (41.53).
Clark's 8.5 rpg ranks third in the SLC, though, he seconds the league in off. rebounds with 3.5 per game to also rank 19th in the NCAA. He seconds the SLC in FG% (.543) and is nationally ranked 37th in season double-doubles (7). Graduate
Marion Humphrey leads the SLC in assist/turnover ratio (2.8) to rank 39th in the NCAA. Senior
Lance-Amir Paul ranks third in FT% (.800).
The Islanders won a championship in each of the last two meetings with NWST. They won 83-75 to secure the SLC Regular Season Championship at home before rematching the Demons in the SLC Tournament Final and winning that one 75-71 to secure back-to-back tournament titles.
Both games can be watched live with a subscription to ESPN+ or heard live for free on 1440 AM K-E-Y-S with Steven King of the call.
NOTES
- The Islanders are 16-7 all-time over Northwestern State and hold a 5-3 advantage when playing visitor to the Demons. They have won the last four straight meetings, including three times last year.
- A&M-Corpus Christi and A&M-Commerce are tied 1-1 in the all-time series after first playing each other last year. The Islanders won 93-88 on the road against the Lions last season in the regular season finale to clinch the outright ownership of the SLC Regular Season title.
- Last year, the Islanders were 7-2 on the road against Southland opponents en route to winning the regular season championship.
- A&M-Corpus Christi is 22-0 over the last three seasons when shooting over .500 FG%. The Islanders are 26-1 over the last two seasons when holding the opposition to 70 points or less.
- Clark is the reigning SLC Player of the Week, after averaging a double-double of 17.0 ppg and 10.0 rpg in the wins over Southeastern and Nicholls. He has recorded either 10+ points or 10+ rebounds in every SLC game this year, recording a double-double in three of those games.
- A rebound-heavy team, A&M-Corpus Christi tops the conference in rebounds, off. rebounding, and rebounding margin (+7.5), and ranks second in def. rebounding (27.5 drpg). At least seven different Islanders have grabbed a rebound in every game this year.
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