STOCKTON, California – ACU senior guard
Jaylen Franklin has hit some big shots and made numerous special plays in his three-plus seasons with the Wildcats, but his play at the end of Friday night's game against Pacific was his best and it kept the Wildcats undefeated on the young season.
In a back-and-forth contest at the Alex G. Spanos Center, it was the Wildcats who had the last shot and Franklin made it count as his 15-foot jumper at the buzzer gave his team a 73-71 win over Pacific in the Tigers Thanksgiving Classic. The shot keep the Wildcats undefeated on the season (5-0), propelling the team to its best start since the 1998-99 Wildcats started 11-0 on their way to a 20-win season and a berth in the NCAA national tournament.
The Wildcats led early, fell behind by their largest deficit of the season (6 points), came back to take a 10-point halftime lead (37-27), saw Pacific rally at the free throw line to regain an advantage and then rallied themselves to take a 67-56 lead with 4:55 to play on a jumper by
Jalone Friday.
But Pacific — which lived at the free throw line in the second half — had one last rally in it and it resulted in a 71-69 lead with 56 seconds to play in the game. The 15-2 run for Pacific was aided by a 6 for 6 performance at the free throw line for a team that was 25 for 30 at the line in the second half (28 for 37 overall).
After Roberto Gallinat — who was 14 of 15 at the line — hit two free throws to give his team a 71-69 lead, the Wildcats got the game tied when
Payten Ricks drove inside and dished the ball to Franklin, who laid it in with 37.5 seconds left to tie the game at 71-71. Pacific's Jahlil Tripp went to the bucket early, but his driving layup was altered by
Jalone Friday and it fell off the side of the rim where Ricks stuck his nose into the fray and came away with a huge defensive rebound.
ACU had no timeouts remaining and Ricks handed the ball off to Franklin with about 11 seconds left in the game and he moved the ball up the floor to work for the final shot of the game. Franklin had driven to the basket with abandon all game, but this time he head-faked his defender (Lafayette Dorsey) to make him think he was going to the basket and stepped back and with about one second left on the clock let a 15-foot jumper fly that hit nothing but net to give his team the win.
Franklin sprinted the length of the floor before being engulfed by his teammates as the three officials reviewed the play to make sure he had gotten the ball out of his hands before the buzzer went off. He had with ease and the Wildcats had collected their fifth win of the young season.
"Payten did a great job to get that rebound and coach (
Joe Golding) called my number and we executed it to perfection," Franklin said. "I had been driving to the basket all night and I knew that's what he was expecting me to do. But I've been working on my shot in the gym and that work paid off (Friday night). This was a big win for our team because that team (Pacific) is really good and plays in a really good conference (West Coast Conference along with, among others, Gonzaga and Saint Mary's)."
Golding said the Wildcats would have to win games on nights when the team's 3-point shots weren't falling and when adversity seemed to lurk around every corner. Friday night the team that entered the game as the nation's top 3-point shooting team managed to just 5 of 15 from long range and were whistled for 28 fouls to 19 for Pacific and shot just 18 free throws to 37 for the Tigers. But the Wildcats took care of the ball (only 10 turnovers) and limited the Tigers to just 34 percent shooting from the floor (20 of 46).
"As proud as I am of J-Frank for making the shot, I'm just as proud of our defensive effort to get a stop late in the game to give us a chance to win it," Golding said. "Payten made a great play on the pass to J-Frank to get it tied, and then he did a great job getting in there to get a big-time rebound to give us the opportunity to win it.
"We told our guys at halftime that Pacific would be the aggressor in the second half, and they certainly did that throughout the half," Golding said. :"But we took some punches and kept fighting back. Great win, especially to be able to come out to the West Coast and beat this team in its gym."
Jaren Lewis was terrific again for the Wildcats, finishing with 20 points and nine rebounds and taking over the game late in the first half to help ACU build that 10-point cushion. Friday finished with a game-high 22 points and six rebounds to go along with six rebounds and two blocks in 30 minutes.
Trey Lenox was terrific in 14 minutes off the bench, finishing a couple of points, one rebound and two assists.
ACU will conclude its stay in Stockton on Saturday with a 5:30 p.m. (7:30 p.m. Abilene time) contest against UC-Riverside. The Wildcats are 0-3 all-time against the Highlanders.
