ABILENE – New Hampshire used an early second-half burst Thursday to get the separation it needed from ACU as UNH knocked off the Wildcats, 86-75, in front of a boisterous Christmas Slam crowd at Moody Coliseum.
New Hampshire – featuring a roster with seven native Texans – turned a four-point halftime lead into a 16-point advantage with 14:02 left in the game thanks to a 17-5 run that turned a close contest into a runaway.
The win pushes New Hampshire to 5-2 overall, while the Wildcats of ACU fall to 3-4. ACU will be back in action Saturday at 1 p.m. when it takes on Nebraska (5-3) at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Neb.
Neither team gave an inch in an entertaining first half that ended with New Hampshire ahead 46-42 at the break. But the Wildcats of UNH opened the second half with three straight layups by Jacoby Armstrong, who didn't score in the first half but scored eight second-half points.
A 3-pointer by ACU's
Jovan Crnic with 17:46 left in the game cut the New Hampshire lead to 52-47, but that was as close as ACU would get the rest of the way. New Hampshire then ripped off an 11-0 run to take a 16-point lead (63-47) with 14:02 to play. ACU would not get the game closer than 11 points the rest of the way.
"Both teams played well in the first half, but they (UNH) came out and got points on their first four or five possessions and that was the difference in the game," ACU head coach
Joe Golding said. "We just get stops when we needed them in the second half, and they played really well offensively."
Freshman guard
Jaylen Franklin led ACU with a career-high 22 points (7 of 12 from the field) and buried a game-high 8 of 10 free throws. Freshman forward
Hayden Farquhar had a career-high 17 points off the bench (7 for 8 from the field), while
Parker Wentz finished with 12 points (3 of 5 from 3-point range). Crnic had 10 points and freshman forward
Jaren Lewis had nine points, nine rebounds and three blocks off the bench.
ACU shot 48.0 percent from the field (24 of 50), including 53.3 percent from 3-point range (8 of 15). ACU was 19 for 24 from the free throw line.
Daniel Dion led four New Hampshire players in double figures with 16 points, while Tanner Leissner and Ronnel Jordan each had 14 points and Jaleen Smith 13. New Hampshire shot 53.3 percent from the field (32 of 60), including 35.3 percent from 3-point range (6 of 17).
