ABILENE – Texas A&M-Corpus Christi held ACU to the Wildcats' lowest point total of the season Wednesday night as the Islanders marched into Moody Coliseum and knocked off the Wildcats, 56-44.
The loss drops the Wildcats to 12-14 overall and 6-9 in the Southland Conference, while the red-hot Islanders won their eighth straight to improve to 17-9 and 10-5. ACU – which had won four of its last five games entering Wednesday night's contest – is back in action Saturday at 6:15 p.m. when it takes on Sam Houston State in Huntsville. That game will be carried on 98.1 FM and can be seen on ESPN3.
The Wildcats played Wednesday's game without redshirt freshman center
Jalone Friday, one of the leading candidates for Southland Conference Freshman of the Year honors. Friday missed the game with a lower leg injury and is day-to-day.
Without his 14 points per game and ability to play both inside and outside, the Wildcats struggled offensively, shooting just 33.3 percent from the floor (17 for 51), including 5 for 19 from 3-point range. ACU was 0 for 7 from beyond the arc in the second half.
But the Wildcats got a nine-point halftime deficit down to just 36-35 with 13:56 left in the game on a steal and fast-break layup by
Jaren Lewis, who had a team-high 11 points in the game. The game stayed there for the next four minutes as both teams squandered chances to either take the lead (ACU) or extend the lead (Corpus Christi).
With ACU trailing 40-35,
Drake Green hit a jumper to draw ACU to within 40-37 with 9:08 left, giving his team a chance. But the Wildcats had three straight turnovers before Rashawn Thomas – the leading candidate for Player of the Year honors in the league – scored at the 7:01 mark and then saw teammate Jake Kocher turn a steal into a fast-break layup and a 44-37 lead at the 6:35 mark. The Islanders effectively put the game away after ACU's
Hayden Farquhar missed a 3-pointer and Joseph Kilgore hit one for Corpus to give the Islanders a 47-37 lead with 5:55 to play.
The Wildcats didn't get closer than seven points the rest of the way as the Islanders held on to improve to 7-0 all-time against ACU.
Lewis led the Wildcats with 11 points and seven rebounds, while
Isaiah Tripp had eight points, four rebounds and four assists. Jayden Franklin scored seven points and had three rebounds, two assists, two blocks and three steals.
Thomas led all scorers with 18 points to go along with 11 rebounds, four assists, two blocks and four steals in 37 minutes. Kareem South had 14 points and Kilgore added 13 for the Islanders.
