Box Score STOCKTON, Calif. – Two of the things ACU head coach
Joe Golding wanted for his team this weekend on the West Coast were to see how his team handled playing three games in three days and see if they could win a game when didn't have their "A" game.
Golding got to see both in the same game Saturday evening as the Wildcats overcame a sluggish first half to gut out a 60-48 win over UC-Riverside in the final game of the Tigers Thanksgiving Classic at the University of the Pacific. ACU finished the tournament at 3-0, winning the tournament title and improving to 6-0 on the season, the program's best start at the NCAA Division I level and best start since the 1998-99 team started 11-0.
The Wildcats shot just 30.8 percent in the first half (8 of 26) and their lead was just two points (24-22) in their lowest scoring half of the young season. But ACU kept the defensive pressure up in the second half and finally got the offense untracked as the Wildcats pulled away for its first win ever against UC-Riverside (0-3 prior to Saturday's game).
ACU's lead was just 32-30 with 14:44 left in the second half before
Payten Ricks made a jumper at the 14:38 mark and then
Jaren Lewis — who had just four points in the first half — scored two straight buckets before freshman
Joe Pleasant and
Jalone Friday scored to help ACU push its lead to a game-high 10 points (42-32) with 11:34 left in the game.
B.J. Maxwell hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer with 8:23 left to make it a 47-34 game and then Lewis found
Hayden Farquhar in the corner for another 3-pointer to give ACU its largest lead of the night (16 points) at 50-34 with 6:54 left in the game. The Wildcats' lead would not dip below eight points the rest of the night as they were able to seal the win on the defensive end of the floor.
The Wildcats limited the Highlanders to just 39.1 percent shooting from the floor (18 of 46), including 37.5 percent in the first half (9 of 24). Riverside managed to hit just 3 of 14 shots from 3-point range and were dogged into 17 turnovers ACU's defense. The Wildcats held Riverside to just 48 points, the first time ACU has held an NCAA Division I opponent below 50 points since a December 1950 loss to North Texas (43-40).
"This wasn't a pretty game, but sometimes you have to dig deep and figure it out and that's what our guys were able to do (Saturday)," Golding said. "When you play three games in three days you have to be able to count on your depth, and I thought we had some great minutes from guys on our bench.
Trey Lenox,
Damien Daniels,
Kolton Kohl,
Joe Pleasant,
Clay Gayman,
Hayden Farquhar and
Tobias Cameron … all those guys came off the bench and gave us great minutes. And we were able to get
Chase Cobb and
Paul Hiepler into the game and give them a taste of it.
"We're going to have nights when shots aren't falling and we have to get it done in other ways, and that was certainly the case in the first half," Golding continued. "But the message at halftime — led by our players — was unbelievable. They just told everyone we've come too far to lose by not playing our style of basketball. We had to get back to doing what we do best and we were able to do that in the second half. If we want to get where we want to go this season, we're going to have to play consecutive nights and win tough, defensive games, so this was a good one for us to win."
Friday posted the seventh double-double of his career with 10 points and 10 rebounds, while Lewis chipped in 10 points and seven rebounds.
Jaylen Franklin had eight points, three rebounds, four assists and no turnovers as he continued his strong start to the season.
ACU will be back in action Tuesday at 6 p.m. when it hosts Howard Payne at Moody Coliseum. Howard Payne is the opponent ACU has played the most in its history and Tuesday night's game will mark the 113th game in the series with ACU holding a 74-38 advantage. The series dates back to the 1921-22 season, ACU's third season of intercollegiate basketball.
