Men's Basketball | 11/29/2016 4:22:00 PM
ACU Game Notes
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The ACU Wildcats are back on the road this week for a pair of contests against New Mexico and Charleston Southern.
Wednesday night's contest at New Mexico tips off at 7 p.m. local time (8 p.m. Abilene time) and can be heard on 98.1 FM The Ticket or seen on Root Sports (DirecTV channel 674). Saturday afternoon's game at Charleston Southern can also be heard on 98.1 FM The Ticket and can be seen online at
bigsouthsports.com. Tipoff for that game against the Buccaneers is set for a5:30 p.m. tipoff (4:30 p.m. Abilene time).
Wednesday night's game marks the first time the Wildcats have played a regular season game at Wisepies Arena in Albuquerque, N.M. (widely known as The Pit) since Dec. 18, 1974, when the Lobos knocked off the Wildcats, 85-63. Wednesday's game is being played to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the opening of The Pit, which occurred on Dec. 1, 1966, when the Lobos beat Abilene Christian, 62-53.
The Wildcats enter these two road contests at 3-2 on the season and coming off a 71-55 home win Sunday over NCAA Division III opponent Howard Payne. That win came two days after ACU lost a 72-64 decision at Oklahoma the day after Thanksgiving. ACU is 1-1 on the road this season with a win at New Hampshire on Nov. 17 to go along with the loss in Norman, Okla.
After Wednesday night's game at New Mexico, the Wildcats will head to the east coast to take on Charleston Southern in a rare non-conference return game. The Buccaneers were in Abilene last week and rallied from a 17-point second-half deficit to beat ACU, 66-65, on a shot by Arnel Potter with four seconds left to give the Bucs their only lead of the night. That lead held up as ACU point guard
Jaylen Franklin's running 3-pointer at the buzzer clanged off the front of the rim.
ACU NOTES
• ACU freshman guard
Payten Ricks will get the start Wednesday and Saturday at point guard in place of sophomore
Jaylen Franklin, who was injured last Friday in ACU's loss at Oklahoma. Franklin's injury isn't thought to be as serious as it could have been, and he could return to the Wildcats' lineup before the end of December.
• Sophomore forward
Jaren Lewis leads the Wildcats in both scoring and rebounding, averaging 13.2 points and 7.8 rebounds per contest. Lewis came within one rebound Sunday against Howard Payne of having a double-double, instead settling for 15 points and nine rebounds.
• Redshirt freshman center
Jalone Friday has gotten his collegiate career off to a rousing start, averaging 11.0 points and 6.2 rebounds per contest, both second on the team. Friday has seven rebounds in four of ACU's five games this season, and Sunday against Howard Payne he scored a career-high 16 points on 6 of 8 shooting from the field, while also grabbing seven rebounds and blocking three shots.
• After hitting just 9 of 18 free throws in the loss to Charleston Southern on Nov. 22 and 9 of 19 in an eight-point loss at OU on Nov. 25, the Wildcats were 22 of 27 last Sunday against Howard Payne. ACU is still shooting just 61.1 percent from the line (66 of 108).
• ACU leads the Southland Conference in scoring defense (allowing 61.8 points per game), field goal percentage defense (allowing opponents to shoot just 38.6 percent from the field), and 3-point field goal percentage defense (allowing opponents to shoot just 26.5 percent from the arc).
