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ABILENE – The ACU men's and women's basketball teams will host Sam Houston State in Southland Conference basketball action in the first national broadcast from Moody Coliseum.
The women's game will tip off at 1 p.m. with the men's game set for a 3 p.m. tipoff. Both games can be heard locally on 98.1 FM The Ticket, and can be viewed nationally on ESPN3. David Saltzman will have the play-by-play call for ESPN and will be joined by former Baylor men's coach Jim Haller as the color commentator.
ACU athletics is asking everyone to wear purple to the game, and the first 750 ACU fans through the doors at Moody Coliseum will receive purple and white pom poms.
For the ACU women, Saturday's game is the 1,200th in program history and the Wildcats will be looking for their 740th win (ACU is currently 739-460 for a .616 winning percentage).
The Wildcats are 11-8 overall and 2-2 in the Southland Conference after suffering their second straight conference setback Thursday night against Lamar. The Wildcats are led by senior forward
Renata Marquez, who is 14th in the league in scoring at 13.7 points per game, and freshman forward
Suzzy Dimba, sixth in the league in rebounding at 8.6 rpg.
Sam Houston State, meanwhile, has won four straight – including a 60-51 win Thursday night at Incarnate Word – to pull back to 9-9 overall and 4-3 in the Southland. The Lady Bearkats are led by Angela Beadle, who leads the Southland in rebounding at 9.8 per game and is sixth in scoring at 15.8 ppg.
The ACU men enter Saturday's contest at 7-12 overall and 1-4 in league play after Thursday night's disappointing 65-57 loss to a Lamar squad that entered the game at 1-17 overall and losers of 14 straight games. ACU – which will play its fourth straight game Saturday without leading scorers
LaDarrien Williams and
Harrison Hawkins because of injury and academics, respectively – is renewing a series with Sam Houston State that dates back to the 1923-24 season.
ACU leads the all-time series against the Bearkats, 18-12, but the two haven't played on the hardwood since March 8, 1986, when the Wildcats beat the Kats, 73-60, in the third-place game of the NCAA?Division II?South Central Region Tournament in Cape Girardeau, Mo. The last time ACU?and Sam Houston State met as conference foes was Feb. 25, 1984, in Huntsville when the Wildcats beat the Bearkats, 84-83, in the quarterfinals of the Lone Star Conference?Post-Season Tournament.
The Wildcats enter Saturday's game led by sophomore guard
Parker Wentz, who is ACU's third-leading scorer at 10.7 points per game, but is their leading scorer among active players.
Julian Edmonson has scored 56 points the last three games and is averaging 7.6 ppg, while sophomore forward
Austin Cooke is averaging 7.1 ppg and a team-best 6.4 rebounds per game.
The Bearkats (13-6 overall and 5-2 in the Southland) had won four straight before they fell 85-74 at Incarnate Word on Thursday. Sam Houston is led by Jabari Peters, who is averaging 13.7 ppg, and Kaheem Ransom at 12.1 ppg.
