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It’s a battle for Texas mid-major supremacy on Tuesday with Texas A&M Corpus Christi and Texas Southern competing for the right to play Kansas in the first round of the big dance.
Texas A&M Corpus Christi vs Texas Southern (-3.5, 136)
Both teams have defenses that rank in the top 100 in points allowed on a per possession basis with Texas Southern 26th in this category and Texas A&M Corpus Christi 97th, but allowing fewer points per possession in road and neutral court games than at home.
The edge on the interior goes to Texas Southern, who is 20th nationally in opponent 2-point shooting percentage and both teams are attempting less than 31.5% of their field goals from outside the arc, with each in the bottom 40 in terms of percentage of shots that come from 3-point range.
While Texas Southern is strong on defense, they are 236th in points scored per possession on offense with 10.9 points per 100 possessions fewer scored on a road or neutral court than at home.
Fundamentals are an issue for Texas Southern? Who is turning the ball over on 20.9% of possessions, which is 328th in the country and faces a Texas A&M Corpus Christi defense that forces a turnover on 22.2% of possessions, which ranks 18th in the country.
With Texas A&M Corpus Christi making 76.3% of their free throws away from home and Texas Southern just 66% of them, the Islanders’ will give themselves a chance to pull the upset by doing the little things.
The Play: Texas A&M Corpus Christi +3.5
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