ABILENE - Senior guard
Harrison Hawkins buried three 3-pointers in the second half to finish with 20 points and
LaDarrien Williams posted a 10-point/12-rebound double-double in leading the Wildcats to a big 71-54 decision over Nicholls Saturday afternoon at Moody Coliseum.
The victory keeps the 8-7 Wildcats undefeated vs. Southland Conference competition at 2-0, while the Colonels slipped to 3-9 overall and 0-2 vs. the league.
ACU trailed by as many as nine points midway through the first half and carried only a three-point lead at break (31-28), but steadily increased their advantage throughout the second half by connecting on 6-of-13 long-distance attempts and 14-of-17 free throws.
Junior forward
Austin Cooke gave the Wildcats their first double-digit lead of the day at 42-32 and 13:51 remaining with one of his three treys, while his second of the half made it a 15-point game.
Hawkins then went off during during a two-minute stretch from 6:41-4:46 in which he connected on three consecutive treys, the last of which put ACU ahead by 20 points at 67-47. From there, the Colonels would get no closer than 17 points.
The Wildcats' defense also played a superb second half, holding Nicholls to .296 shooting (8-27) and generating 10 points off their eight turnovers. The visitors also missed six free throw attempts to finish 11-for-18 (.611).
By comparison, ACU knocked down 18-of-21 of their free throws and outrebounded the Colonels, 43-36. Ten of Williams' 12 rebounds were off the defensive glass and
Duran Porter - who chipped in 10 points off the bench - pulled down eight to go along with two blocks.
Cooke finished with 11 points, and in the first half,
Parker Wentz scored 11 of his 16 points.
Jalen Little directed the offense for 30 minutes, providing five assists and two steals.
"Two-and-0 is great compared to where we were a year ago," said ACU associate head coach
Brette Tanner, "and even though we just beat two good teams, the road is just going to get a lot tougher in a hurry."
The Wildcats return to action Tuesday at Northwestern State for a 6:30 p.m. tip. ACU basketball's homestand vs. Nicholls continues Sunday at 2 p.m. as Wildcats' women's team plays host to the Colonels. Free admission provided to any individual or family presenting a church bulletin from their Sunday service.
Northwestern State is one of the best offensive teams in the country, averaging 80.8 (15th in NCAA) points per game, and Saturday the Demons edged Incarnate Word at home, 103-101, to improve to 7-7 overall and 2-1 within the Southland.
"This is a tough team we're about to face and a tough trip," said Tanner. "So we're counting on our guys to buy into the scouting report and do a good job defensively to hold them down."
