Wildcats back on the road for pair of league contests

HOUSTON – The ACU Wildcats are back on the road this week for a pair of Southland Conference contests, beginning Wednesday night at Houston Baptist and concluding Saturday at Northwestern State.

Tipoff for Wednesday's game at HBU is set for 7 p.m. from Sharp Gym, while Saturday's game will get started at 3 p.m. at Prather Coliseum in Natchitoches, La. Both games can be heard on 98.1 FM The Ticket.

About ACU: The Wildcats are led by junior forward Jaren Lewis ranks 12th in the league in scoring (13.4 ppg), followed by redshirt sophomore center Jalone Friday in 13th (13.2 ppg) and graduate transfer guard Tevin Foster tied for 15th (13.0 ppg). ... Foster is averaging 17.5 ppg in four Southland Conference contests and ranks fifth in the league in scoring in conference games. ... Lewis is tied for 14th in scoring per game in cofnerence contest,
averaging 13.5 ppg in four conference games. … Lewis leads the Southland Conference in field goal percentage (62.0 percent in the early going of the season), which ranks him 22nd in the country. ... He's also ninth in the league in rebounding (6.6 rpg). … Junior point guard Jaylen Franklin is second in the league in total assists (83), and his average of 4.9 per game is third in the Southland. ... Franklin is tied for third in the league in steals per game (2.1), and his 35 total steals are third in the league. ... Franklin is fifth in the league in field goal percentage (55.2 percent).

About Houston Baptist: The Huskies will try to break a five-game losing streak with their last two tough-luck losses both coming in games in which neither team led by more than seven points. … Last Saturday's game against Nicholls saw 15 lead changes with the last coming on Nicholls' Roddy Peters free throws with 21 seconds left. HBU's Edward Hardt's runner at the buzzer bounced off the back of the iron to end the game. … Freshman David Caraher led all players with 26 points while fellow frosh Ian DuBose posted the second double-double of his career, finishing with 19 points and 10 rebounds. … So far in SLC play four freshmen (Caraher, DuBose, Philip McKenzie, Oliver Lynch-Daniels) and a sophomore (Jalon Gates) are the team's top-five scorers, accounting for nearly 80 percent of the team's scoring.

About Northwestern State: The Demons have played one of the most demanding schedules in the Southland Conference with games against Texas, SMU, Colorado State, Oklahoma and Utah under their belts. … Senior guard Jalan West — who is in his seventh year of eligibility after missing the last two seasons with major knee injuries — leads the team in scoring (12.3 ppg), but hasn't played since scoring nine points in 32 minutes against Utah on Dec. 20. … Ishmael Lane is second on the club in scoring at 12.1 ppg, while Isiahiah Sweeney is also averaging in double figures at 11.9 ppg. … The Demons are shooting just 39.1 percent from the field, 28.8 percent from 3-point range and 63.1 percent from the free throw line. … Northwestern State is averaging just 65.2 points per game, while allowing 78.9 ppg.