ABILENE – The ACU Wildcats return home Wednesday night to host the New Orleans Privateers in a Southland Conference game in Moody Coliseum.
The game between the Wildcats and Privateers is set to tipoff at 7 p.m. and can be heard on 102.7 FM The Bear (102thebear.com) with Voice of the Wildcats
Grant Boone calling the action, and it can be seen on
acusports.com.
The Wildcats are 8-12 overall and 2-7 in the Southland Conference and are riding a three-game losing streak with all three losses coming on the road and two of them coming by three points apiece. ACU lost at Nicholls, 62-59, on Jan. 19 before falling at Incarnate Word, 82-79, last Thursday night. ACU's skid reached three straight last Saturday night with a 72-60 loss at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
The Privateers, meanwhile, enter Wednesday night's game at 12-8 overall and 7-2 in the Southland and tied with pre-season league favorite Sam Houston State for first place through the first half of league play. The Privateers have won eight of their last 10 games, but have lost at home to Sam Houston State, 70-68 on Jan. 12, and 71-61 at Stephen F. Austin in their last outing Saturday night.
The Wildcats are led by sophomore forward
Jaren Lewis and redshirt freshman post
Jalone Friday, who are averaging 14.3 points and 14.1 points per game, respectively. They rank 12th and 13th, respectively, in scoring in the conference.
Lewis is 10th in the league in rebounding (6.8 rebounds per game), while Friday is third in the league in 3-point field goal percentage (.448 on 26 of 58 shooting) and sixth in free throw percentage (.813 on 52 of 64 shooting). Senior guard
Drake Green is fourth in the league in 3-point field goal percentage (.448 on 30 of 67 shooting from beyond the arc).
The Privateers are led by senior forward Erik Thomas, who leads the Southland Conference in scoring at 19.9 ppg, while also ranking fifth in the league in rebounding (7.6 rpg). Senior guard Christavious Gill is 21st in the league in scoring (11.9 ppg), while Travin Thibodeaux is ninth in the league in rebounding (6.9 rpg). Thomas also leads the league in field goal percentage (.615 on 147 of 239 shooting).
After Wednesday night's game, the Wildcats are back at home Saturday for a 4 p.m. game against league co-leader Sam Houston State as ACU gets the league's top two teams in back-to-back games to start the second half of league play.
