Men's Basketball | 1/25/2017 7:18:00 PM
SAN ANTONIO – The ACU Wildcats are back on the road this weekend for a pair of key Southland Conference contests against Incarnate Word and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The first game on the trip is Thursday against UIW at the Recreation and Convocation Center on the UIW campus.
Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. Thursday, and the game will be broadcast on 98.1 FM (98theticket.com). The game can be seen on the UIW website at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/uiw/.
The Cardinals are 10-3 all-time against ACU and have won four straight games against the Wildcats. ACU's last win in the series was an 82-68 win in San Antonio on Feb. 27, 2013.
ACU enters the game at 8-10 overall and 2-5 in the Southland after last Thursday's 62-59 loss at Nicholls. The Wildcats led the game 30-18 with eight minutes in the first half before the Colonels turned the game around with a 30-9 run over the next 16 minutes of game time to take a 48-39 lead.
The Wildcats had a couple of chances to tie the game or get to within one point late in the contest, but couldn't convert at the free throw line. Sophomore forward
Jaren Lewis is 13th in the Southland Conference in scoring at 14.3 points per game, while redshirt freshman post
Jalone Friday is tied for 14th in the league at 13.8 ppg.
Lewis is tied for seventh in the league in rebounding (7.0 rebounds per game), while Friday is 6th with 1.6 blocks per game.
Incarnate Word improved to 8-10 overall and 3-4 in the league last Saturday night with a come-from-behind 70-68 win over Stephen F. Austin in San Antonio. Shawn Johnson – UIW's leading scorer at 15.2 ppg – hit two big 3-pointers late in the game, including the game-winner with four seconds left in regulation.
Johnson is tied for seventh in the league in scoring at 15.2 ppg and fifth in the league in rebounding at 7.2 rpg. He is third in the league with 2.6 3-pointers made per game.
Following Thursday night's game at Incarnate Word, ACU will then head further south to Corpus Christi where the Wildcats will take on Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 7 p.m. Saturday in the American Bank Center in a game that will be broadcast on 98.1 FM and on ESPN3.
The Islanders were picked to finish third in the league in the preseason poll, but are 9-9 overall and 2-5 in the league and have lost two straight and three of four going into Wednesday night's game at Lamar. The Islanders are led by senior forward Rashawn Thomas, who is averaging 18.7 points and 8.3 rebounds per game.
Junior Ehab Amin is one of the league's top guards and is averaging 18.0 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game.
