HUNTSVILLE – The ACU men's basketball team is back on the road facing three straight must-win games to close the regular season if wants to record the program's first winning season since the 2007-08 campaign.
The Wildcats are 12-14 overall and 6-9 in Southland Conference play with three games left in the regular season beginning with Saturday night's contest at Sam Houston State. If the Wildcats want to post a winning season, they'll have to win each of their last three games – Saturday at Sam Houston State, next Wednesday night at home against Incarnate Word and next Saturday at Houston Baptist.
If the Wildcats can get to 15 wins, they would almost assure themselves of a bid to either the CBI or CIT post-season tournaments. It would also push the Wildcats to 9-9 in conference play, one game better than last year's 8-10 conference mark.
The Wildcats knocked off the Bearkats earlier this month in Abilene, the second win in a stretch of four wins in five games for the Wildcats.
That streak, however, was snapped Wednesday night in a 56-44 home loss to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi that saw the Wildcats play without the services of their leading scorer
Jalone Friday, one of the leading contenders for Southland Conference Freshman of the Year honors. ACU head coach
Joe Golding said Friday is considered day-to-day with a foot injury.
Without Friday in the lineup and his ability to play inside and shoot the ball outside, the Wildcats struggled to score against the Islanders, hitting just 33.3 percent of their shots from the field (17 of 51) and posting their lowest offensive output of the season.
They continued, however, to play solid defense as they limited the Islanders to 37.5 percent shooting from the field (18 of 48) and allowed just 56 points. The Wildcats continue to be one of the league's top defensive teams, allowing opponents to shoot just 44.7 percent from the floor and score just 70.1 points per game.
Friday continues to lead the Wildcats in scoring at 14.2 ppg, followed by sophomore forward
Jaren Lewis at 13.6 ppg and sophomore point guard
Jaylen Franklin at 10.9 ppg. Franklin is seventh in the league in assists per game (4.3), while Friday is ninth in field goal percentage (52.6 percent) and sixth in free throw percentage (82.0 percent). Lewis, meanwhile, is 12th in the league in rebounding at 6.6 rebounds per game.
Friday leads all Southland freshmen in scoring, rebounding (5.6 per game), free throw percentage, 3-point field goal percentage (second in the league overall), and second in field goal percentage.
The Bearkats have lost three of their last four games to fall to 18-10 overall and 9-6 in the Southland and into third place in the league standings. They've played their last two games – both losses – without center Aurimas Majauskas, who is second on the team in scoring at 10.2 ppg.
The Bearkats are led by Dakarai Henderson, who is averaging 10.3 ppg, followed by Majauskas. They are, however, the only two Bearkats averaging in double figures on the season, although four other Bearkats are averaging at least 7.4 ppg and four more are averaging at least 4.0 ppg.
Sam Houston State has struggled all season from beyond the arc having hit just 31.6 percent from 3-point range on the season (169 of 535), while opponents are hitting 34.0 percent from behind the 3-point line (202 of 594).
The Bearkats, however, are almost impossible to beat at home where they are 13-1 this year with their only loss coming against Houston Baptist in the Southland Conference-opener on Dec. 29, 2016.
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