Men's Basketball | 12/27/2014 5:34:00 PM
Live Stats l Live Audio l Live VideoPHOENIX, Ariz. – Two teams in the midst of transition to NCAA Division I affiliation will square off Sunday afternoon at the GCU Arena when the ACU Wildcats and Grand Canyon Antelopes meet in ACU's final non-conference tuneup before Southland Conference play begins next Saturday.
The Wildcats and Antelopes – both in their second year of transition from NCAA Division II to NCAA Division I affiliation – are set to tip off at 5 p.m. (Abilene time / 4 p.m. MT). ACU is 6-6 in its second year of transition, while Grand Canyon – a member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) – is 7-7, also in its second year of transition. Sunday's contest will be the second all-time meeting between the two programs with Grand Canyon winning the only previous meeting, 80-64, in Phoenix on Dec. 28, 1984.
The game will not be aired on local radio, but Grand Canyon offers live stats as well as live audio and live (links above) for ACU fans to follow the game.
Both teams enter Sunday's game riding two-game winning streaks. Grand Canyon is 7-7, thanks to an 81-55 win last Saturday after St. Edward's and an impressive 68-65 home win Tuesday night against New Mexico. Grand Canyon, in fact, has played No. 1 Kentucky (85-45 loss on Nov. 14), at Indiana (94-66 loss on Dec. 13) and New Mexico prior to Sunday's game against ACU. The Antelopes will host pre-season Top 25 squad Harvard on Tuesday.
Dan Majerle, a former Phoenix Suns all-star and member of the U.S. basketball squad that won the gold medal at the 1994 World Championships, is in his second season as the Antelopes' head coach. He led GCU to a 15-15 overall record and a third-place finish in the nine-team WAC in 2013-14.
The Antelopes have three players averaging in double figures, led by DeWayne Russell, who is averaging 14.8 points per game, while Royce Woolridge is averaging 10.6 ppt and Jerome Garrison is averaging 10.3 ppg.
The Antelopes have hit just 31.0 percent of their 3-point attempts this season (81 of 261), but have allowed their opponents to hit only 28.4 percent of their 3-point attempts (67 of 236).
The Wildcats, meanwhile, are coming off the Upper Division Championship of the Continental Las Vegas Classic last week at the Orleans Arena. ACU beat South Carolina State, 65-59, last Monday and Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 69-61, on Tuesday to win the title. Senior guard
LaDarrien Williams was named to the all-tournament team from ACU.
Junior guard
Parker Wentz continues to lead the Wildcats in scoring at 14.1 ppt, while Williams is second at 10.5 ppg and senior guard
Harrison Hawkins third at 10.1 ppg. ACU has hit 35.7 of its 3-point attempts (92 of 258), but opponents are hitting 38.0 percent from beyond the arc (78 of 205).
ACU's win over South Carolina State was the program's first over an NCAA Division I opponent away from Moody Coliseum since an 87-70 win at Texas-Arlington on Dec. 7, 1993.
