ACU hosts UIW in another key Southland contest

ABILENE – The ACU Wildcats are back on their home floor Saturday afternoon as they host Incarnate Word in what seems to be an endless series of key games for a team in search of its first berth in a conference post-season tournament in 10 years.

The Wildcats fell into eighth place in the Southland Conference standings Wednesday after their 69-65 home loss to the first-place Nicholls Colonels. ACU is now just one-half game ahead of McNeese in the standings, but only one game behind Lamar and Central Arkansas for sixth place in the league. Aside from hosting UIW today and trying to stop only the team's second two-game losing streak of the season, the Wildcats will also be curious about what's happening around the league, but especially in Lake Charles, La., Huntsville and Corpus Christi.

McNeese – one-half game behind the Wildcats at 5-6 in the league – hosts 9-3 Southeastern Louisiana, while Sam Houston State (9-3 in the league) hosts Lamar (one game ahead of ACU at 7-5). And in Corpus, New Orleans (9-3) is at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, which is 5-6 and one-half game behind the Wildcats. ACU needs a win of its own and losses for Lamar, Corpus and McNeese to push the Wildcats into sixth place all by itself and give it some separation from the teams below it in the standings.

The Cardinals enter Saturday's game coming off an 86-68 loss to Southeastern Louisiana in a game in which they trailed by just three points at halftime. Charles Brown III – the team's leading scorer at 14.2 points per game – had a career-high 26 points and a team-best eight rebounds in the loss. Shawn Johnson is averaging 10.9 points and a team-high 6.3 rebounds on the season, while Christian Peevy is averaging 9.1 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. Brown ranks eighth in the Southland in points per game.

The Wildcats dropped a 69-65 decision Wednesday night to league-leading Nicholls, only the second time this season the Wildcats have lost back-to-back games. ACU lost despite 18 points and a career-best 20 rebounds from junior forward Jaren Lewis, who set the program's NCAA Division I record for rebounds in a game. ACU also saw Jaylen Franklin score 17 points and Tevin Foster and Jalone Friday add 11 and 10 points, respectively.

This is a short-lived series – dating back to November 1997 – and has only been played 15 times, but Incarnate Word has dominated the series with 12 wins in those 15 games. UIW has beaten ACU all eight times the two teams have played since they joined the Southland Conference together in 2013-14. ACU's last overall win as an NCAA Division II member and last win over UIW came on Feb. 27, 2013, when it beat the Cardinals, 82-68, in San Antonio.