Every Wildcat scores in dominant 69-point win over Howard Payne

Thursday, December 12

Abilene, Texas

6 P.M.

Abilene Christian

5-5,0-0Southland

105

Howard Payne

1-6,0-0ASC

Team	1	2	F
Howard Payne	27	9	36
Abilene Christian	46	59	105

Every Wildcat scores in dominant 69-point win over Howard Payne

12/12/2019 8:51:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

ABILENE – After a tough first four-plus minutes of the game, the ACU men's basketball team picked it up and dominated the final 36 minutes in a 105-36 route of the Howard Payne Yellow Jackets in Moody Coliseum. Even a bat flying around in the middle of the second half could not slow down the Wildcats (5-5), who outscored HPU 59-9 in the final 20 minutes. ACU is back to .500 as they move into conference play next week.

Turning Point
- After trailing in the early moments of the game, the Wildcats took off on both ends of the floor, using a 20-2 run over a 6:06 stretch to take a commanding 29-16 lead. ACU pushed the lead to as many as 19 in the first half, leading 46-27 at the break.
- ACU outscored Howard Payne 59-9 in the second half, and allowed just one field goal make in the final 20 minutes.

Key Plays
- ACU trailed at the first media timeout, 11-7, but came out with a bang. Payten Ricks and Mahki Morris went back-to-back from distance to get the offense going, and they would not look back.
- Freshman Airion Simmons was a spark plug; the Little Rock, Ark. native recorded back-to-back buckets in transition to extend the lead.
- Morris hit a three-pointer in the corner at the 6:35 mark, giving ACU its seventh three-point make of the half. The seven makes tied a season-best for the Wildcats in a single game this season; ACU would finish with 15.
- Ricks lit it up from deep, connecting on a three-pointer at the seven-minute mark of the first half, giving him four for the 20-minute period.
- Trey Lennox hits a three from the right wing at the 17:40 mark of the second half to give ACU a new single-season high of three-pointers at the time; ACU finished with 15.
- The Wildcats went on a 10-0 run in a little over two-and-a-half minutes early in the second half, and it sparked a 29-2 run in over seven minutes.
- Howard Payne made a field goal 45 seconds into the second half, and did not make one the rest of the game.

Stat Pack
- ACU hit 15 three-pointers, their most since the 2014-15 season when it hit 16 against Northwestern State.
- The Wildcats have tallied back-to-back 100-point games for the first time since the 1997-98 campaign; Joe Golding was a basketball player at ACU at the time.
- ACU recorded 19 steals, setting a new Division I program record.
- The Wildcats forced 35 Howard Payne turnovers, setting a new program record at the Division I level; the previous high was 30 turnovers forced in 2014.
- ACU has won its last two games by a combined margin of 137 points; the 69-point win Thursday was the most in its Division I history, breaking the previous record set against Dallas Christian five days ago.
- Payten Ricks finished with 14 points and connected on four three-pointers; it was Ricks' 28th game with three or more 3-pointers made.
- Airion Simmons finished with a game-high 15 points on an efficient 7-of-11 shooting.
- Kolton Kohl was the final Wildcat in double-figures with 12.
- Every Wildcat that played (13 players) got in the scoring column.
- Coryon Mason hit his first two three-pointers of the season.
- Paul Hiepler matched a career-high with nine points.
- Reggie Miller and Trey Lenox each finished with five assists to lead the team.

"Gold" Mine
Head Coach Joe Golding

On his team overcoming the slow start…
"We didn't take it seriously enough early on, and we needed our leaders to step up. I'm proud of the guys for answering the bell when we were down early. It was good to see."

On the next game at New Orleans to start league play…
"I'd rather play a tough opponent like New Orleans to open conference play. It will be a huge test for us. They were picked to win the league. It will be a huge test to see where we are at."

Up Next
- ACU has six days off before heading to the Big Easy on Wednesday, Dec. 18 to take on the New Orleans Privateers. It opens the Southland Conference schedule, and is a rematch of the biggest win in program history when ACU topped UNO in the conference tournament title game last March. The game tips off at 7 p.m.