Box Score CORPUS CHRISTI — Trey Gray came off the bench to score 20 points and three other Islanders scored in double figures as Texas A&M-Corpus Christi knocked off ACU, 80-66, in Southland Conference men's basketball action at the American Bank Center.
The Islanders entered the game having lost three straight games and sitting at 4-12 overall and 1-5 in league play, while the Wildcats had won five of their last seven to improve to 5-3 in the league. And with Stephen F. Austin, Lamar and Southeastern Louisiana all losing Wednesday night, an ACU win would have pushed the Wildcats to within one game of first place.
Instead, ACU had no answer for Corpus Christi on the offensive end as the Islanders hit 51 percent of their shots (23 of 45), including 47.8 percent form 3-point range (11 of 23). The Islanders entered the game having made and attempted the fewest 3-pointers in the league (71 of 220), but completely flipped the script against the Wildcats.
Myles Smith buried back-to-back 3-pointers from almost the same spot on the islanders' first two offensive possessions to get the Islanders off to a good start from behind the arc. Corpus Christi went on to hit 8 of 15 3-pointers in the first half and went to the locker room with a 39-33 lead. The Islanders — who ripped off a 10-4 run to end the half after the Wildcats had tied the game 29-29 late in the half — never trailed the entire night.
The Wildcats got the game to within 2-5 points on several occasions in both halves, but were only able to tie the game the one time in the first half. Otherwise, the Islanders, who are now 8-0 all-time against the Wildcats, were able to keep the Wildcats at bay.
Joe Kilgore — the league's fourth-leading scorer — had a double-double with 13 points and 14 rebounds from his guard spot, while Smith finished with 15 points and Sean Rhea 12. Gray was 5 for 9 from 3-point range — the only shots from the field he took — and was 5 for 5 from the free throw line for his game-high 20 points.
Gray, in fact, had only made 11 3-point field goal attempts entering the game, and his previous career scoring high was an 11-point effort at Texas State on Nov. 29.
Jalone Friday led the Wildcats with 16 points, but all of them came in the first half as he was 0 for 3 in the second half (o for 1 from 3-point range).
Tevin Foster was the only other Wildcat to finish in double figures as he had 12 points in the game.
