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First Four from Dayton. It probably helps some if a team has played in this event before, and Texas A&M-CC did last year, losing to Texas Southern. Pretty much everyone of note is back from that Islanders team and they were the regular season and conference tournament champions of the Southland. SEMO finished fifth in the Ohio Valley before getting hot in the league tournament. A&M-CC is without Southland Defensive Player of the Year Terrion Murdix, but I think still has enough to advance. A bit higher and I was going to pass on this one because of Murdix's absence.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi ranks in the top 40 nationally in 3-point percentage, checking in around 37% on the season, and ranks No. 2 in the country in free throw percentage hitting 80% of its attempts from the stripe. Both teams are comfortable with an up-tempo game -- especially SEMO -- so I'm expecting a lot of possessions and a lot of fouls, giving an edge to the team's that's elite at knocking down free throws.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi got hot at the end of the season, winning 12 of their final 13 games and the Southland Conference title. They're looking to avenge a nine point loss in last year's First Four matchup vs. Texas Southern. Meanwhile, Southeast Missouri State was only 10-8 in the Ohio Valley Conference but won its four conference tournament games to advance to the NCAA Tournament. I'll go deeper on this play during the 4 p.m. ET "Early Edge" on SportsLine's YouTube page.
Southeast Missouri State started the OVC Tourney with a losing record and off of two losses before winning four straight to be the upset winner of the OVC and earnthe auto-bid to the NCAA Tournament. As great of a story as that is, I love the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi story, with five senior starters returning back from last season’s team that made the NCAAs. The Islanders average 80 ppg. I’m on them to cover and advance.