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Wednesday, January 31, 2001
Islanders looking for repeat
Panthers falling fast without speedy Burks
By Matt Young
Caller-Times
PRAIRIE VIEW - The last time Texas A&M-Corpus Christi played Prairie View A&M, the Islanders had trouble locating Gregory Burks. The Panthers' speedy 5-foot-9 guard was all over the court, getting loose for a game-high 25 points and five steals in A&M-Corpus Christi's 79-63 win Nov. 20.
In today's rematch at 7 p.m. at the William Nicks Building, the Islanders won't have any trouble finding Burks, he'll be sitting on the sidelines in street clothes. Burks, who averaged a team-high 21.3 points per game, suffered a season-ending injury in Prairie View A&M's sixth game of the season.
"We've been hurting without our leader back there making us go," Prairie View A&M coach Elwood Plummer said. "He's always been a spark for us on offense, and he was really quick on defense. He went down, and our team's been searching for direction ever sense."
The Panthers were 1-5 with Burks holding the reins, but they were at least competitive in most of those games. Since Burks' injury, Prairie View A&M has gone 2-8 and has been embarrassed in several of those losses. The Panthers had a disastrous road trip last month that included a 115-46 loss at Tulsa and a 93-50 loss at Gonzaga.
"We've had some bad (losses), no doubt about it," Plummer said. "I don't think Gregory could have helped us win those games, but we would have at least been more competitive. We went through a stretch where we weren't playing very good basketball. Hopefully, we're going to get that ship righted in a hurry."
Plummer knows his Panthers are going to have their hands full with A&M-Corpus Christi. While the Islanders don't have to worry about Prairie View A&M's top gun, the Panthers are definitely concerned about slowing down the Islanders' main man Michael Hicks.
Hicks scored 20 points and grabbed 13 rebounds against Prairie View A&M in the first meeting and is averaging 26 points per game.
"That Hicks kid is unbelievable," Plummer said. "He's tough to guard because he works so hard on the court. He can score from outside, but he'll just work you to death if you let him get inside. He's a hand full that's for sure."
Hicks is coming off a rare sub-par performance in which he was limited to 10 points on 2-of-10 shooting in the Islanders' 82-80 loss at Centenary on Saturday.
"Michael Hicks is a great basketball player, and there's no doubt he'll bounce back from this," said A&M-Corpus Christi coach Ronnie Arrow after the loss. "A game like this is an aberration for Mike. I don't think anyone would be surprised if he came right back and had a great game when we go to Prairie View."
Staff writer Matt Young can be reached at 886-3702 or by e-mail at youngm@caller.com
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a Scripps Howard newspaper. All rights reserved.
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