ABILENE – With only six games remaining on its Lone Star Conference schedule, the Abilene Christian men's basketball team likely needs to win at least half of those or more in order to have any chance of reaching its first postseason tournament since 2007-08.
But in order to meet that objective, the Wildcats (10-10, 4-8 LSC) first must beat the two teams on this week's slate – two teams that are right ahead of them in the conference standings – two teams that already beat them earlier this season, Texas A&M-Commerce (11-9, 4-6 LSC) and Tarleton State (12-5, 5-5 LSC). Commerce edged ACU at Moody Coliseum, 90-88, on a last-second jumper by Tyrie Wooten, while the Texans held the Wildcats to 12 first-half points en route to a 64-50 win.
ACU's rematch with the Lions will take place in Commerce Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. Tarleton State, meanwhile, will first play host to Angelo State, before making its final appearance in Moody Coliseum Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
Both games will be broadcast locally on AM 1280-KSLI and on the Internet via the ACU Sports page at SkyboxLive.com.
Only a few weeks ago, it appeared the Wildcats had turned a corner in their season after lighting up second-place Incarnate Word at home, 93-76, followed by a sweep of Angelo State. But during this past week, ACU again resembled its early-season self as it lost an eight-point lead in a 78-69 defeat to West Texas A&M before suffering its fourth final-possession loss of the conference season at Eastern New Mexico, 65-64.
ACU trailed by as many as 12 points at the start of the second half, but a 3-point play by
Steven Werner cut the Wildcats' deficit to one with a minute to play. The Greyhounds then missed their next shot – a jumper by Rodney Blackmon – and
Cornelius Cammock pulled down the rebound with 45 seconds remaining.
Eric Lawton tossed up the first two game-winning attempts, but his first was off the mark and rebounded by Werner, while Phil Henry blocked the second out of bounds. After calling a time out with seven seconds to play, Lawton got the ball out to Cammock whose 10-foot jumper hit off the back of the rim, and then as time expired freshman
Parker Wentz crashed the boards looking for a tip-in only to have the ball again roll out.
Wentz contended to the officials that he was fouled, but his pleas were ignored as the Greyhounds celebrated their second sweep of ACU in three years.
Despite being four games under .500 in conference play, the Wildcats have only been outscored by four points, 823-819, equaling a slim scoring margin of -.03 points per game. The Wildcats have also out-rebounded their conference foes by +6.2 per game and shot close to 40 percent from 3-point range, but have not looked sharp at the free-throw line (.635) or in terms of turnover margin (-2.3).
Commerce begins the week losers of two straight to Tarleton State – and six of its last eight – with its only wins since the start of 2013 coming at home against Midwestern State (74-66) and Eastern New Mexico (84-77). The Lions, however, still have the league's second best scoring offense with 74.2 points per game led by Preston Whitley (14.5 ppg) and Stefon Carson (10.8 ppg).
Andrew Davis is their top rebounder with 7.2 per game and shooter with a .576 field-goal percentage.
Tarleton has won its last four to get back to .500 in the conference at 5-5. In addition to beating ACU and the Lions, the Texans also have bested Kingsville, 52-46, and clobbered West Texas, 65-50.
Tarleton slightly resembles the Buffaloes on paper in that they are both ranked toward the bottom in scoring offense and right at the top in scoring defense. The Texans this season are averaging only 64.1 points per game, but are giving up just 58.6 while limiting opponents to a .405 field-goal percentage. Jon Cathey-Macklin and Damion Clemons lead the Tarleton defense with 1.4 and 1.1 blocks per game, respectively.
The Wildcats will play host to its inaugural Cultural Crossover Night on Saturday, Feb. 9 as part of its doubleheader vs. the Texans. This event will feature several booths run by ACU's international-based student organizations and will be stationed around the arena concourse complete with food, decorations and music.
There will also be several halftime acts split between the men's and women's games, including The Pips, Sanctify, and Shades. The ACU's junior cheerleaders will also present a short performance.
