ABILENE – The ACU Wildcats didn't play their best basketball of the season Saturday afternoon, but what they did in the second half against McMurry was more than enough to help them finish their pre-conference slate with a big win at Moody Coliseum.
ACU led by just 18 points at halftime (38-20), thanks to 12 first-half turnovers and sluggish play over the first 20 minutes. But the Wildcats limited McMurry to just one point in the first 10:44 of the second half and outscored the War Hawks 29-0 at one point in the second half on their way to an 88-40 blowout victory.
Saturday's game marked the first time ACU and McMurry had met on the basketball floor since a 75-63 McMurry on Dec. 6, 1974. However, Saturday's contest was never in doubt as ACU led from the outset and dominated the War Hawks in every phase of the game. ACU outscored McMurry, 50-16 in the paint, 29-13 off turnovers, 21-8 on second-chance points, 24-0 on the fast-break and 54-15 off the bench.
ACU led 38-20 at the break and McMurry scored the first point of the second half on a free throw by Zacc Carter with 18:28 left in the game. But the Wildcats — who were chastised by head coach
Joe Golding throughout the first half for the 12 turnovers and sloppy play – ripped off a 29-0 run over a nine-minute span to take a 67-21 lead.
Senior guard
Jaylen Franklin and senior forward
Jaren Lewis each scored six points in the run, followed by five points by
Payten Ricks and two from
Jalone Friday. After the starters exited the game with around 11 minutes left in the game and the contest well in hand, freshman forward
Joe Pleasant took over, scoring all of his career and game-high 17 points over the final 11:50 of the game. He also pulled down a career-high eight rebounds in the win.
After
Tobias Cameron buried a 3-pointer with 9:47 left to give ACU a 67-21 lead, Carter snapped the 29-0 run with a jumper for McMurry, cutting the ACU lead to 67-23 with 9:17 left in the contest. ACu's largest lead was 52 points on two occasions: 82-32 on a Pleasant layup with 2:09 left and 86-34 on a Pleasant jumper with 1:32 to play.
Friday finished with 12 points and eight rebounds for the Wildcats, while
Hayden Farquhar had 11 points off the bench. Franklin had nine points, two assists and four steals in just 22 minutes, while Lewis had eight points ad six rebounds in just 15 minutes.
The Wildcats are now 11-2 on the season, the program's best start since the 1998-99 team started 11-0 on its way to a 20-win season and a spot in the NCAA Division II national tournament. The Wildcats will begin Southland Conference play Wednesday (Jan. 2) at 7 p.m. when it hosts New Orleans at Moody Coliseum.
GAME NOTES
• ACU's 56 rebounds set a Division I-era record for rebounds in a game, surpassing the old mark of 48 vs. Hillsdale Free Will Baptist on Dec. 3, 2013.
• ACU's 74 field goal attempts are the second-most in the Division I era behind the 80 vs. Southwest Adventist on Feb. 22, 2014.
• Senior forward
Jaren Lewis -- ACU's Division I-era scoring leader -- scored 8 points to give him 188 for the season and 1,299 for his career.
