CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas -– The University of the Incarnate Word men's basketball team hopes to find a route back to winning ways Saturday when it takes a two-hour bus ride to the Texas Gulf Coast for a Southland Conference game against Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. The Cardinals (6-16, 1-8) and the Islanders (9-13, 4-5) clash at 7 p.m. at the American Bank Center downtown.
SERIES HISTORY
UIW and TAMU-CC have met eight times on the hardwood since the two teams first played during the 2013-14 season. Each team has won four games. The teams split last year's home-and-home series, with the Islanders winning, 56-51, in San Antonio and the Cardinals taking a 69-62 decision in Corpus Christi.
Dr. Carson Cunningham is in his first year as the Cardinals' head coach after a successful five-year stint at Carroll College of Helena, Montana – where he led the Fighting Saints to three appearances in the NAIA national tournament. His team made the final eight twice. He has a collegiate coaching career record of 113-68. Islanders head coach Willis Wilson is in the midst of his eighth year, a tenure during which he has compiled a 119-128 record. Prior, Wilson spent 16 years as head coach at Rice University. He has a 337-375 career head coaching record.
CARDINALS STILL REIGN FROM THE FREE THROW LINE
Despite missing an uncharacteristically high number of free throws last Saturday against New Orleans, the Cardinals continue to lead all Division I men's basketball teams in shooting percentage from the foul line. UIW's 11 misses against UNO were offset by a season-high opportunity from the charity stripe. The Cardinals made 26 of 37 tries; the former tied a season record and the latter set a new season mark.
Of 351 D1 teams, UIW ranks first in free throw accuracy, hitting 80.5 percent of its foul shots. That puts UIW 1.4 percent ahead of second-place Hofstra. Sophomore forward
Christian Peevy is the 15
th-ranked free throw shooter in the land with regard to the percentage of made shots. Of 103 free throws taken this season, Peevy has missed only 11. That results in a percentage of 89.3.
Four other Cardinals,
Augustine Ene (87.2),
Charles Brown III (87.2), Dwight Murray (85.0) and
Antoine Smith Jr. (80.8), are hitting more than four of five free throws, but do not qualify for an individual ranking because they do not meet the required number of made shots (2.5 times the number of games played). However, their totals combine to enhance the team's ranking.
CHRISTIAN PEEVY -- POINTS AND PERCENTAGE
Since fully recovering from an early-season injury,
Christian Peevy has been scoring prolifically while hitting his shots with a high degree of accuracy. Peevy sustained a hand fracture in a game at LSU early in December. He missed two games prior to the Christmas break and played sparingly during the first four conference games in January. After his return to full activity, Christian has been sinking 54 percent of his field goal attempts. As previously mentioned, he is hitting almost nine of ten shots from the foul line.
- Five games ago: For the first time since the LSU game, Christian scored in double figures, 16 points, during the Jan. 19 game against Stephen F. Austin. In addition to hitting three of four from the field, he made 10 of 12 shots from the free throw line.
- Four games ago: He played 40 minutes, a career high, and scored 26 points against Lamar on Jan. 23, hitting 50 percent of his shots from the floor (9-18) and 87.5 percent of his free throws (7-8). He had seven rebounds against LU.
- Three games ago: He played 37 minutes, hit 10 of 15 field goal attempts for 20 points and snagged 11 rebounds -- his second double-double of the season. He also contributed three assists, three blocks and two steals against New Orleans on Jan. 26. The rebounds, field goals made, blocks, and steals matched personal bests.
- Two games ago: On Jan. 30, Peevy scored 15 points against HBU, shooting a perfect 5-5 from the line.
- Last time out: He scored 25 points, shooting seven for 12 from the floor and 11-13 from the line, against New Orleans on Feb. 2. He set a career high with three steal
For the most up-to-date information on UIW Athletics, visit
uiwcardinals.com, follow the Cardinals on Twitter @
UIWAthletics and like UIW Athletics on Facebook at
UIW Athletics.
