After a convincing 80-63 win over Central Arkansas, the Wildcats will be back in action Wednesday night against a team they are yet to beat since transitioning to Div. 1.
In fact, ACU is 0-7 against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi since 2014, and in only two of those games was the final score within five points, while four of the losses were by double digits.
But this year may well be the year ACU breaks the streak of losses to the Islanders. The Wildcats come in with momentum after the win in Conway on Saturday, and TAMUCC has had its fair share of struggles.
The Islanders enter the matchup 1-5 in the conference and ranked second to last in both scoring offense and point differential. Meanwhile, the Wildcats are 5-3 in the Southland and rank fourth-best in each of those categories. Junior forward Jaren Lewis said it has been the defensive intensity that has helped his team so far this season, especially against UCA.
“Our intensity really picked up in the second half, we were locked in on the defensive end and really forced UCA into some tough shots,” Lewis said. “We began to feed off our defensive intensity and it translated to the offensive end.”
However, Lewis, who has been part of four consecutive losses to the Islanders, said his team is expecting a battle.
“We have to keep the same focus we had in the second half of our game against UCA, we can’t take Corpus lightly,” Lewis said. “They have really taken it to us in the past, so this is a big game for us.”
Lewis is second on the team in scoring at 13.4 points per game, just behind sophomore center Jalone Friday at 14 ppg. Lewis also ranks top-ten in the conference in rebounding at 6.8 rebounds per game is coming off a double-double against UCA.
“We know if we play with the same defensive intensity we played with against UCA, we will have a good chance to win,” Lewis said. “This would be a great road win for us and we know we can’t afford a let down.”
With a win the Wildcats could move as high as fourth in the conference standings. They sit in sixth as of Wednesday morning. Game time is set for 7 p.m. at the Dugan Wellness Center and can be heard on 98.1 FM.
