Post-Game Interview with LaDarrien WilliamsABILENE, Texas – The ACU Wildcats have been working and pursuing their first non-conference NCAA Division I win for a little more than one season. That persistence finally paid off Thursday night when they put together a solid effort on both ends of the floor en route to a 72-61 win over Sacramento State in front of a good crowd at Moody Coliseum.
The win is ACU's first non-conference NCAA Division I victory since a 93-89 win over Pepperdine on Dec. 3, 1984, also at Moody Coliseum. The win pushes the Wildcats back to .500 at 3-3, while the Hornets' four-game winning streak was snapped as they fall to 4-2.
The Wildcats will be back in action Saturday at 7 p.m. when they take on the Houston Cougars at Hofheinz Pavilion. The game between ACU and Houston will be the fourth meeting between the two teams, but the first since a Dec. 24, 1967, meeting in Houston won by the Cougars, 90-75. The game can be seen on ESPN3 and can be heard on 98.1 FM The Ticket.
ACU never trailed Thursday night, and after building its lead to as much as 17 points early in the second half, never saw it drop below seven points down the stretch. Three Wildcats scored in double figures in the game, led by senior guard
LaDarrien Williams, who had 24 points. Junior guard
Parker Wentz had 15 points, including a pair of key 3-pointers late in the game, and
Austin Cooke recorded his second career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
The Wildcats' defensive effort was probably the story of the night, however, as they held one of the nation's top shooting teams well below their season average in both points and field goal percentage. The Hornets entered the game ranked No. 7 in all of NCAA Division I basketball in field goal percentage (52.9 percent), but shot just 32.1 percent against the Wildcats, hitting just 17 of 53 shots. They were also averaging 72.8 points per game, but scored just 61 points against a solid ACU defensive effort.
"I thought our defensive effort was the biggest story of the game," ACU head coach
Joe Golding said. "Some of the stuff they run had us worried all week, but I thought we handled it really well. They have two guards (Mikh McKinney and Dylan Garrity) who are really good players, and we did a pretty good job on those two guys."
Garrity finished with a team-high 19 points and McKinney with 12, but Garrity scored nine points and McKinney five in the final 9:25 of the game to help the Hornets get close. Garrity helped cut what was once a 17-point ACU lead to just 10 points (56-46) with a pair of free throws at the 4:16 mark. Twenty seconds later, McKinney hit two more free throws to cut the Wildcats' lead to 56-48.
But Wentz – who was 3 of 5 from 3-point range on the night – buried a big triple from the right wing with 3:45 to play to push the Wildcats' lead back to 59-48, giving his team a bit of breathing room. After a layup by Garrity got the Hornets to within 59-51 with 2:59 to play, Williams found Wentz on the right wing again for another huge 3-pointer to push the lead back to 62-51 with 2:41 left.
The Hornets, however, wouldn't die, as they scored four straight points to trim the lead to 62-55 with 1:32 to play. But Williams hit two free throws with 58 seconds left to make it 67-58, followed by Wentz hitting 3 of 4 to make it a 70-61 game with 22 seconds to play. Cooke sealed it with a pair of free throws with six seconds to play, giving the Wildcats their biggest win since they moved to NCAA Division I affiliation last year and erasing the memory of a tough loss last Saturday at Cal-Riverside.
"We worked hard this week and came out and put together a good game," said Williams, who had 15 big first-half points, helping ACU to a 33-20 halftime lead.. "We were more aggressive on both ends of the floor and it paid off. We finally got a non-conference Division I win, and now we've got to build on it and finish the non-conference schedule in a strong way and get ready for (Southland) conference play."
While the Wildcats' defense limited the Hornets to just 32.1 percent shooting form the field, ACU hit 51.1 percent from the field (23 of 45), including 7 of 17 from 3-point range. The Wildcats also hit 79.2 percent from the free throw line (19 of 24) and out-rebounded the Hornets, 34-33.
