SAN ANTONIO – The hard-luck ACU men's basketball team lost another close game on the road Thursday night as the Wildcats fell at Incarnate Word, dropping an 82-79 decision at the McDermott Convocation Center.
The loss drops the Wildcats to 8-11 overall and 2-6 in the Southland Conference, while the Cardinals improve to 9-10 and 4-4.
The Wildcats led 46-42 at the break – their 14th halftime lead in 19 games this season – and pushed that lead to 56-49 with 15:46 left in the game, capping the half-opening burst on a jumper by
Jaylen Franklin. ACU's lead was still 65-59 before UIW regained the lead midway through the second half with a significant 15-2 run that started at the 10:24 mark. The run flipped a six-point deficit (65-59) into a seven-point lead (74-67) as ACU went without a field goal from 11:04 to 3:46.
Jaren Lewis and
Jalone Friday then hit back-to-back shots to bring ACU to within 74-71 before Simi Socks hit a pair of free throws for UIW and a 76-71 Cardinals' lead with 2:38 left. ACU freshman guard
Payten Ricks then hit back-to-back jumpers from the paint and baseline, respectively, to cut the UIW lead to 76-75 with 55 seconds to play.
But with the shot clock running down, Jalin Hart hit a layup to give his team a 78-75 lead before Franklin found Lewis inside for a dunk and a 78-77 game with 24 seconds to play. After a pair of free throws by Hart pushed the lead to 80-77 with 19 seconds to play, Ricks hit a driving layup with seven seconds to play to cut the Cardinals' lead to 80-79.
Sam Burmeister, however, hit a pair of free throws with five seconds to play and Ricks' game-tying three-point attempt was off-line at the buzzer. Two games ago in a 67-64 win over Lamar on Jan. 14 Ricks hit a half-court shot to beat the Cardinals. And in ACU's last game – a 62-59 loss at Nicholls last Thursday night – Friday's 3-pointer at the buzzer was off the mark, making it three straight games where the outcome was determined on the final shot.
Friday scored 18 of his career high 26 points in the first half, connecting on 8-of-10 field goals - two of which were from the 3-point arc. Friday made his first five field goals of the game and first two triples. He has four-straight games in double figures and three-straight games with 20 or more points.
Lewis (17 pts.) reached double figures for the sixth straight game, and Franklin (13 pts.) broke a streak of three games of single-digit scoring.
Key Stats
• Incarnate Word hit 8 of first 9 shots from the field – including 7 of 8 from 3-point range – to open the game, pushing out to a 25-17 lead over the Wildcats in the first 7:38 of the game.
• ACU is now 7-7 on the season in games in which it led at halftime.
• The Wildcats are now 2-8 on the road this season, including 0-4 in Southland Conference play. ACU has lost six straight road games with its last road win coming on Dec. 3, 2016, when it beat Charleston Southern, 85-82, in overtime.
• The Wildcats had just 10 turnovers in the game, their third-fewest in a game this season behind the seven they had vs. Randall on Dec. 14 and the eight they had vs. Central Arkansas on Jan. 5.
• Incarnate Word out-rebounded the Wildcats, 33-25, making ACU 3-8 in games in which they're out-rebounded.
Notable
• ACU has lost seven straight games against Incarnate Word having not beaten the Cardinals since an 82-68 win over UIW in San Antonio on Feb. 27, 2013, ACU's final road game as an NCAA Division II member of the Lone Star Conference.
• The Wildcats have lost three road games this season by three points or less.
Up Next
The Wildcats will be back in action Saturday in Corpus Christi when they take on Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in a 7 p.m. game in the American Bank Center. The game can be heard on 98.1 FM (98theticket.com) and can be seen on ESPN3 with Lincoln Rose (play-by-play) and Van Chancellor (analyst) providing the call of the game.
