GARLAND – Kevin Booze hit his first five 3-pointers of the game Monday night en route to a career-high 35 points and Lamar dealt the ACU Wildcats their eighth straight loss, 80-61, in a Southland Conference mens' basketball game at the Culwell Center.
The loss drops the Wildcats to 9-15 overall and 3-8 in the Southland, while Lamar improves to 12-12 and 6-6. ACU is off until next Monday when the Wildcats play at Sam Houston State in Huntsville.
Booze – whose previous season-high was 17 points – had that many points in the game's opening 11 minutes as he scored 18 of Lamar's first 26 points, 15 on five 3-pointers and three on free throws. He finished the night 10 of 17 shooting from the field, including 9 of 13 from 3-point range. He also hit 6 of 7 from the free throw line and dished out four assists in 39 minutes.
The last time ACU was really in the game was at the 16:21 mark of the first half when
Austin Cooke's 3-pointer gave the Wildcats a 9-6 lead. Booze answered with four straight 3-pointers to turn that deficit into a 18-9 lead and the Cardinals never looked back.
Booze led four Cardinals in double figures as Anthony Holliday had 14 points, while Tyran de Lattibeaudiere had 11 and Donovan Ross pitched in 10 points.
About the only positive on the night for the Wildcats was that junior guard
Parker Wentz seemingly found his shot again. Wentz – who has struggled with his shot in the Wildcats' previous seven games – hit 5 of 9 from the field (2 of 4 from 3-point range) and 7 of 8 from the free throw line to finish with a team-high 19 points.
Austin Cooke had 12 points for the Wildcats and
LaDarrien Williams had 10 off the bench. Cooke led the Wildcats with eight rebounds.
