Men's Basketball | 1/19/2015 4:12:00 PM
Live Audio l Live Audio / Video l Live StatsLAKE CHARLES, La. – The ACU Wildcats are back in action Tuesday night in southwest Louisiana when they take on McNeese State in a key Southland Conference men's basketball contest.
Tipoff from Burton Coliseum is set for 7 p.m., and the game can be heard locally on 98.1 FM The Ticket or on the internet at
www.the98x.com. McNeese State will also carry a live audio / video feed of the game that can be purchased
here.
The Wildcats enter Tuesday's contest at 9-8 overall and 3-1 in league play after Saturday's 82-64 home loss to Stephen F. Austin in front of almost 2,900 Moody Coliseum fans and a national TV audience watching on CBS Sports Network. The Wildcats led the Lumberjacks at halftime, but SFA ripped off a big run midway through the second half on their way to their 13th straight win this season and their 26th straight Southland victory.
ACU, meanwhile, is back on the road Tuesday after snapping its 20-game road losing streak last Tuesday night with a huge 95-81 win against Northwestern State in Natchitoches, La. Junior guard
Parker Wentz – who leads the Wildcats in scoring at 13.9 points per game and was an honorable mention selection Monday for Southland Conference Player of the Week honors – had 29 points in the win over the Demons and hit 7 of 9 shots from 3-point range.
ACU is also led by guards
Harrison Hawkins (15th in the Southland in scoring at 13.5 ppg) and
LaDarrien Williams (11.5 ppg), as well as junior forward
Austin Cooke (9.5 ppg and 5.8 rebounds per game).
The Wildcats lead the Southland Conference in 3-point field goals made (145) and percentage (39.6) and are second in 3-point field goal attempts (366). Wentz is second in the league in 3-point field goals (44), attempts (95) and percentage (46.3). Williams, meanwhile, leads the league in free throw percentage (92.1 percent on 35 of 38 shooting).
McNeese State has hit a rough patch over the last three weeks as the Cowboys have dropped each of their four Southland Conference games. After a 66-47 win at Mississippi State on Dec. 30, the Cowboys have lost at home to Stephen F. Austin (80-57) and Houston Baptist (68-56) before losing their last two on the road: 71-61 at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and 69-60 Saturday at Sam Houston State.
The Cowboys are led by Desharick Guidry, who is fifth in the Southland in scoring at 17.3 ppg. Kevin Hardy is averaging 11.9 ppg, while Keelan Garrett is averaging 10.3 ppg.
McNeese is last in the Southland in field goal percentage (41.7 percent), seventh in 3-point field goal percentage (31.5 percent) and 11th in free throw percentage (65.9 percent).
