Men's Basketball | 12/17/2016 10:14:00 AM
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The ACU Wildcats' final non-conference road swing of the season tips off Saturday with a late-night contest on the west coast against Sacramento State.
The Wildcats will take on the Hornets at 9 p.m. (Abilene time) Saturday before turning their attention to the Dons of the University of San Francisco for a Monday night matchup in the team's final non-conference game of the season. ACU and Sacramento State will play at The Nest and the game can be heard on 98.1 FM The Ticket and can be viewed at
www.WatchBigSky.com.
ACU is 6-3 going into Saturday night's game, ensuring that the Wildcats will have a winning record going into Southland Conference play for the first time since moving to NCAA Division I affiliation in 2013-14. The Wildcats head to the west coast coming off a 78-74 win over Randall on Wednesday in Abilene, a game that saw them almost let a 20-point second-half lead slip away before getting the win.
Junior forward
Jaren Lewis had 22 points Wednesday night and leads the Wildcats in scoring at 16.4 points per game and 6.8 rebounds per game. Redshirt freshman center
Jalone Friday recorded the first double-double of his career, scoring a career-high 20 points and hauling a career-best 12 rebounds in the win. Friday is second on the team in both scoring (14.0 ppg) and rebounding (6.4 rpg).
Sophomore point guard
Jaylen Franklin had eight points against Randall in his second game back from a knee injury that cost him three games earlier this season. Franklin – the reigning Southland Conference Freshman of the Year – is averaging 9.3 ppg, but has only been to the free throw line 12 times through six games after averaging nearly seven trips to the line per game last season.
Sacramento State is 2-7 on the season (2-0 at home) as it plays only its third home game of the season. The Hornets are 2-0 at home this year, and 46-14 (.767 winning percentage) inside the Nest dating back to the beginning of the 2012-13 season.
Dating back to last season, Sacramento State has won five straight games at home. That includes wins over Big Sky foes Idaho, Southern Utah and Northern Arizona during the final three home games of the 2015-16 season.
The Hornets, who have won at least 14 games each of the last four years, are currently 2-7, the program's worst mark after nine games since the 2008-09 season. Sacramento State is seeking its first win against a Div. I opponent, as the Hornets are 2-0 against NAIA competition, 0-2 against Power Five Conference schools, and 0-5 against like Div. I opposition.
Sacramento State and Abilene Christian have played each other once previously, and that came in a 72-61 Wildcat victory in Abilene, Texas, on Dec. 4, 2014.
Junior forward Justin Strings leads the Hornets in scoring (13.9 ppg) and is second in rebounding (7.6 rpg) with Nick Hornsby averaging 11.4 ppg and a team-high 8.2 rpg.
Sacramento State is shooting just 28.0 percent from 3-point range this season (46 of 164), but are allowing opponents to hit 42.5 percent from beyond the arc (74 of 174).
