DAYTON, OHIO — A Texas showdown as the No. 16 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders faced off against the No. 16 Texas Southern Tigers for a chance to play No. 1 Kansas. The Tigers defeated the Islanders in a back-and-forth matchup winning 76-67.
Despite both teams being located four hours from each other, this marks only the fourth all-time meeting between both teams, and the first since 2007.
With five lead changes, both squads went back and forth in the first half, shooting nearly the same from the field. The Islanders shot 12 for 33 from the field and the Tigers shot 12 for 30 from the field in the first half.
Texas Southern took the lead in the first half with 22 bench points against the Islanders’ 10 bench points. Leading scorers John Walker III and Bryson Etienne scored eight points apiece off the bench for the Tigers.
A tight matchup in the first half led to a combined 15 turnovers and 17 fouls.
Both coaches talked about things they needed to improve in the first half.
“Taking care of the basketball. We need attempts, not turnovers…” Head coach Johnny Jones said.
“We have to do a better job on the glass…” Head coach Steve Lutz said after falling behind in the first half (TXSO’s 7-0 run).
The second half was no different as the game was nearing the end. The Islanders two-time Southland Conference Player of the Week Issac Mushila was held to just five points, leading to Trevian Tennyson’s 18 points off the bench.
Simeon Fryer was the second-leading scorer for the Islanders with 12 points and nine rebounds. However, this would not be enough to beat the Tigers.
Texas Southern is now 2-2 all-time against the Islanders.
Texas Southern’s Bench Dominants
The Tigers dominated with a balanced attack, including the bench which outscored the starting five.
Texas Southerns bench scored 55 points, led by Bryson Etienne’s 21 points. Etienne shot 5 for 8 from the field and a perfect 9 for 9 from the free-throw line.
John Walker III scored 16 points and PJ Henry scored 14 points. All three tigers combined for 51 points and 25 free throw shots.
Texas Southern finished the game shooting 74.3% from the free-throw line.
Defense Prevails
A close game that involved a lot of defense as the teams combined for 24 turnovers.
The Tigers committed 15 of those turnovers, however, the Islanders committed 22 fouls.
Texas Southern beat the Islanders on the boards with 36 defensive rebounds.
Texas A&M-CC had nine steals and the Tigers had nine blocks.
Both teams went at each other, staying aggressive on the defensive side of the ball. Brison Gresham for Texas Southern had six blocks and led the squad with 13 rebounds.
Texas A&M-CC came into this matchup with a 5.1% block rate on defense, giving Texas Southern license to attack the rim.
Coming Up
Texas Southern (19-12) improves their win streak to five games and will play against No.1 Kansas on Thursday in Fort Worth.
“Can’t tell you how excited we are to get back to the Fort Worth area…” Coach Jones said as he is now 51-32 all-time in March.
