Men's Basketball Plays Host to St. Edward's Wednesday

American Bank Center (8,100) • Corpus Christi, Texas
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THE OPENING TIP
Coming off a 5,000-mile road trip that included stops in Oklahoma, Ohio, Kansas and Nevada, the Texas A&M - Corpus Christi men's basketball team returns to its home court to take on St. Edward's University on Wednesday, Dec. 1, at the American Bank Center. The Islanders sit at 2-5 on the season after going 1-4 away from home, including three games against teams that made the NCAA Tournament a year ago.

Texas A&M - Corpus Christi defeated Bethune-Cookman in Friday's contest at the iBN Las Vegas Invitational behind double-doubles by both Demond Watt and Justin Reynolds. In the second game in the City of Lights, the Islanders fell to Valparaiso, despite a strong contest from Terence Jones, who posted a career-high five assists to just one turnover. Watt was named to the all-tournament team after averaging a double-double with 28.5 points and 12 rebounds over the two games. Reynolds averaged 11.5 points and 9.5 boards in Vegas.

QUICK HITS
- Senior Demond Watt had a career-high 26 points and matched a career best with five assists to go along with 12 boards against Ohio last week.

- Watt is currently second in the Southland Conference in rebounding (10.6), is tied for third in blocks (1.4) and is ninth in scoring (16.0).

- Senior Justin Reynolds stepped up his offensive game in Las Vegas, scoring in double figures for just the second and third times this season. He had his first double-double of the season against Bethune-Cookman with 10 points and 13 boards.

- The Islanders have played the 15th toughest schedule in the country according to college basketball stats guru Ken Pomeroy (kenpom.com). Texas A&M - Corpus Christi's defense has been even more challenged, facing the 13th toughest opposing group of offenses.

- Redshirt sophomore Terence Jones has often been known for his scoring, but he showed a different aspect of his game on Saturday. The Baltimore native had a career-high five assists against Valpo.

SCOUTING THE HILLTOPPERS
St. Edward's enters Wednesday's contest with a 4-2 overall record, most recently posting a 70-67 win over Texas A&M - Kingsville on Monday night. In the Hilltoppers' only game against a Division I foe this year, they fell at UT Arlington on Saturday, 67-52.

Remy Boswell leads the offensive attack for SEU with 16.8 points per game. The big man has also excelled at the free-throw line, shooting 75 percent from the stripe, to go along with 7.5 rebounds per game. Khaliq Gross (9.5) and Zilijan Jones (8.8) have also been key offensive contributors this season. St. Ed's has outrebounded its opposition by an average of 7.7 per game this year.

HOME SWEET HOME
The Islanders were likely very happy when they finally touched down in Corpus Christi early Sunday morning. On the team's five-game road trip, the team covered 4,793 nautical miles in flights in addition to 261 miles racked up on the bus. The team set foot in seven states in its travels, and appeared in three different time zones. Texas A&M - Corpus Christi made five stops in Dallas-Fort Worth Airport on the trip and visited four different terminals at the airport.