by Lee Goddard Caller-Times , Corpus Christi Caller-Times

The Islanders were coming off a victory at Georgia, when a series of blows landed. Guard Kevin Perkins -- likely done for the season. Guard Antonio Topps -- likely done for the season. The capper -- a blowout loss at SMU in which the team faltered in the final 20 minutes.

With the team going from one extreme to another emotionally, A&M-Corpus Christi hopes to rebound in Tallahassee, Fla., today, facing Florida State of the Atlantic Coast Conference .

The 30-point New Year's Eve rout at SMU, which had lost two days earlier to Islanders' Southland Conference rival Texas-San Antonio, capped a tough end of the year for the team.

"The SMU game got us back to reality," forward Demond Watt said.

"We were a little high after the Georgia game -- probably a little too high -- and probably didn't take SMU as serious as we should."

The team had gone into Christmas break feeling fine even without Perkins and Topps in the lineup. A&M-Corpus Christi (6-7) defeated Georgia in overtime on Dec. 22 for its first victory over a Southeastern Conference opponent. It seemed to partially erase the earlier ugly defeats at Illinois, Northwestern and Tulsa, and costly seven-minute closing stretches in losses to Oklahoma State and Savannah State.

Then came Perkins, Topps and SMU.

Perkins, a starter last season and a reserve this season, has been out since mid-November with chronic knee problems. Topps, a two-year reserve, has been hampered with a wrist injury since the start of December. MRI results on his wrist were due by the year's end.

The prognosis is glum. Though Clark will wait until after Tuesday's Houston game before a final decision is made on whether Perkins and Topps are done for the year, he sounded pessimistic.

"It looks like Perkins is done for the year and it looks like we just lost Topps for the year," Clark said. "Perkins didn't even travel with us."

Clark feels that played a role in a sloppy second half against SMU. As for on-the-court play, Clark and his players all felt they played brutally on offense.

"Perkins and Topps, coming back-to-back, emotionally -- and it's not an excuse -- took some of the edge off," Clark said. "I don't think we were as focused as we have been and it probably was our worst performance offensively. We had 25 turnovers and 12 of them were passes we threw right to them and they intercepted the ball and laid it up."

That jeopardizes the Islanders' stated goal of finishing .500 before conference play starts in a week, with the team having to win at both FSU and Houston.

"We just need to settle down and concentrate and start the new year with a win," said center Filip Toncinic, who played junior college ball in Tallahassee. "We've got to prepare hard for conference. We have two more good opponents before then."

That's two more road games, with Clark concerned his team is getting road weary after hosting only four non-conference games.

"They've just been in hotels and have not had the freedom and flexibility to see their girlfriends and hang out," Clark said. "Sometimes it has been a distraction to where they lost focus. We certainly did not have focus at SMU, whether it was because it was New Year's Eve or being on the road."

FSU (12-2) is far different than the Seminoles team A&M-Corpus Christi defeated in 2004. And FSU is far different than SMU or even Georgia.

The Seminoles are on a tear, with losses only to Pitt, a top three team nationally, and at Northwestern. They are experienced -- unlike the 2004 team -- and seem nothing like Georgia, which had struggled with mid- and low-major teams throughout the season.

"It's worrisome right now," Clark said. "They're aggressive and talented. They're as athletic as we are and longer than we are and have the consistency of playing at the ACC level. (Forward) Ryan Reid will give us something we haven't seen. He's an animal inside and we need to see how the referees are calling it if he's pushing us around.

"I'm concerned about the team's psyche, but I still expect us to play very well."

Contact Lee Goddard at 886-3613 or goddardl@caller.com

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