No, the title doesn’t say “pasties.” That would be an entirely different sort of game preview. What it does say is patsies, the collective noun for the awful-to-middling teams that the Longhorns face in non-conference when not squaring off against the North Carolinas and Michigan States of the world. With Tuesday’s road trip to Arkansas looming on the horizon and conference play starting up on Saturday, this afternoon’s contest with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi represents the final “easy” win on the schedule.

While the Islanders likely won’t provide much of a threat to the Longhorns’ perfect mark this afternoon, they are infinitely better than the teams from Gardner-Webb and UT-Pan American that played sacrificial lamb at the Erwin Center. A&M-Corpus Christi started their season with a convincing 67-43 win over Oregon State at Texas Tech’s “Duel in the Desert” event. Since then, they’ve added a trio of wins against teams that play in Division II, and destroyed UT-Pan Am at home. Unfortunately for the visiting Islanders, they are 0-5 in road games this year.

By the numbers

Coach Perry Clark has taken the Islanders in a different direction since Ronnie Arrow led the team to a Southland Conference championship and nearly a first-round upset over 2-seed Wisconsin in the NCAAs. While Arrow’s teams were pushing the tempo and forcing a ton of turnovers, the current batch of Islanders are perfectly content playing half-court games, where they rely on a stout defense to earn their victories.

The biggest hole in the A&M-CC game is at the free throw line. It may be hard for Texas fans to believe, but the Islanders actually shoot a lower percentage from the stripe than the Longhorns do. No, really — it’s true. Texas A&M-CC shoots just 60.5% from the free-throw line, while the Longhorns have improved to 62.2% after Tuesday evening’s solid shooting night.

Another issue for the Islanders is their trouble hanging on to the basketball. They cough it up on more than a quarter of their possessions, which is 332nd in the nation according to Ken Pomeroy. While that percentage only equates to about 18 turnovers per game, A&M-Corpus Christi plays a much slower brand of basketball than what they will see today. The up-tempo pace of Texas basketball means that the Islanders could likely turn it over 25 times this afternoon.

Meet the Islanders

Everything in the Corpus offense starts and ends with Kevin Palmer. At 6’6″ and 205 pounds, his natural position is small forward. But due to injuries last season, he was forced to play in the backcourt and turned out to be quite the facilitator. Palmer dished out 94 assists, tops on the team, while also leading the Southland Conference in scoring with 18.2 points per game. Back in the frontcourt this season, his scoring has increased to 20.2 PPG to go along with 5.6 boards per contest.

The reason Palmer has been able to shift back to forward is that freshman point guard Terence Jones was finally cleared to play by the NCAA. He’s responded quickly, scoring more than eight per game, and has reclaimed the team lead in assists from Palmer. He’s a strong 6’2″ guard that fits well into Clark’s defense-focused game plan, but he will certainly have his hands full with the high-powered Texas offense.

Jones’ newfound eligibility also allows guards LaMarr Drake and Shamar Coombs to shift off the ball to shooting guard, after splitting the duties at point last season. Drake missed the second half of the year after being ruled academically ineligible, forcing Coombs to take the reigns the rest of the season. This year, Coombs has been fairly invisible on the offensive end, scoring less than five points a game while posting a negative assist-to-turnover ratio. Drake, meanwhile, is having his own struggles. He finally made his season debut against Kent State, and his first three games back have been shaky.

Where the Islanders have made their hay this season has been inside. In addition to Palmer, they are relying on the solid play of forwards Demond Watts and Justin Reynolds. They are 1-2 on the squad in rebounding, combining for fourteen boards per game, while they are responsible for almost 20 points per game for the Islanders.

Big man Filip Toncinic could be the most interesting match-up for Texas, as he checks in at an even 7-feet. Coming off the bench, he is a much bigger contributor on defense than offense. Although he scores just five points per game, his defensive presence is game-changing. He has only seven blocks on the season, but having Toncinic down low forces opponents to find other ways to attack the defense. It should be interesting to see the shot-averse Dogus Balbay drive the lane when the seven-footer is in the game.

Horace Bond is a junior who has started every game this season and last season, and provides solid numbers on the glass. He’s playing more than 25 minutes per game this year, and is chipping in nearly six points per contest. Interestingly enough, his 44% shooting from three-point is tops on the team, but he has taken just nine attempts this year. That stat will likely not matter in a game as lopsided as this one, but don’t be surprised if, at one point this afternoon, the big man steps out and tickles the twine from long range.

Marcus Hammond is the only other Islander who plays significant minutes. At 6’5″, 200 pounds, he backs up superstar Palmer and provides steady minutes down low. He won’t make a huge impact on the game today, unless Palmer finds himself in foul trouble.

Keys to the game

As is usually the case in games like this, the only true key for the Longhorns is to show up on time for the game. But for Texas fans, there are a handful of things we’ll be keeping our eye on as we look ahead to conference play….

Can Texas keep up the solid free-throw shooting? — It’s been an Achilles heel all season long, but Tuesday night provided a glimmer of hope for Longhorn fans. Was the 76.2% mark against Gardner-Webb a sign of things to come, or just an aberration?

How will J’Covan Brown bounce back? — The freshman guard had a really tough night shooting the ball on Tuesday. He’s certainly never been one to shy away from an open look, so we have no doubt he’ll keep firing it up this afternoon. What is a question is how he’ll respond if he has a second-straight cold game. For the sake of the Longhorns, we hope he lights it up against A&M-CC and no one ever has to find out.

Can Jai Lucas keep it up? — He has a funky shot and a severe height disadvantage. But Jai Lucas proved just how dangerous he is from long range when he went 5-of-7 on Tuesday night. If he keeps shooting that way, the Longhorn offense becomes even more dangerous, and Texas can truly become an inside-out kind of team. If Lucas lights it up again tonight, it will officially become time to feel giddy.

Seats still remain

This sub-head shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. It’s a 16,000-seat arena in the middle of a football state in early January, and the opponent is a directional school that most have never heard of. But fortunately for Austin-area basketball fans, UT’s marketing department is committed to filling those seats. All mezzanine tickets to this afternoon’s game are just $3, so you have no reason not to grab the family and head down to the Drum for the cheapest afternoon of family time you can find. Plus, the lower bowl will likely be half-full, so you can move the kiddos down closer to the action whenever you want.

For those staying at home, you can catch the game on Fox Sports Southwest in the state of Texas. Elsewhere in the country, you’ll have to be subscribed to ESPN Full Court, or use ESPN360.com if your internet provider doesn’t suck. We’ll see you Sunday evening with the breakdown.