ABILENE – A quicker, deeper and more athletic ACU men's basketball team hit the floor Friday for the 2014-15 season-opener and blew out Hillsdale Free Will Baptist, 101-61, at Moody Coliseum.
ACU's win snaps a two-year losing streak in season-openers and puts the Wildcats above the .500 mark for the first time since Feb. 6, 2013, following a road win at Texas A&M-Commerce that pushed them to 11-10. The Wildcats will be back in action Wednesday when they take on Tulsa at 7:05 p.m. in a game that will be broadcast on ESPN3.
The Wildcats got off to a slow start, trailing 10-6 early on before they went on an 18-4 run to turn the deficit into a 10-point lead. A free throw by
Michael Grant gave the Wildcats their first lead at 13-12 with 12:14 left in the first half. The Wildcats would not trail again the rest of the night.
Freshman point guard
K.J. Maura provided a big spark off the bench in the first half on his way to finishing with 10 points, four assists and two steals in 17 minutes of action.
The Wildcats also welcomed back the backcourt duo of seniors
LaDarrien Williams and
Harrison Hawkins, and they each had big nights. Williams — who missed the final 15 games of the 2013-14 season with a stress fracture in his leg — had 16 points and three rebounds in 17 minutes, while Hawkins — who also missed the final 15 games — poured in 20 points and had two assists and one steal in 16 minutes.
Junior guard
Parker Wentz picked up right where he left off last year as he buried 8 of 11 shots from the field, including 4 of 6 from 3-point range, to finish with a game-high 23 points. He also had five assists, five rebounds, one block and three steals in 24 minutes of action.
ACU shot 56.5 percent from the floor (39 of 69), including 12 of 25 (48 percent) from 3-point range. The Wildcats forced 22 turnovers and held the Saints to just 35.6 percent shooting from the floor (16 for 45), including 0 for 13 from 3-point range.
ACU is now 6-0 all-time against the Saints and have never won any of those six games by less than 25 points.
