Wildcats in Arkansas playing for tournament position

ACU at Central Arkansasi

When: Saturday, March 2, 2019
Time: 4 p.m.
Where: Farris Center (Conway, Arkansas)
Records: ACU 22-6, 11-4; Central Arkansas 11-17, 6-9
Series: ACU leads 5-2
Last Game: ACU 79, Central Arkansas 56 (Jan. 26, 2019 / Abilene, Texas)
Streak: ACU, w1
Last ACU win: ACU 79, Central Arkansas 56 (Jan. 26, 2019 / Abilene, Texas)
Last UCA win: Central Arkansas 74, ACU 72 (Feb. 24, 2018 / Abilene, Texas)
Radio: 98.1 FM (98theticket.com)
Watch: https://ucasports.com/watch/?Live=1888&type=Live
Live Stats: https://ucasports.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary

CONWAY, Arkansas – The ACU Wildcats close out the road portion of the 2018-19 regular season Saturday afternoon when they take on Central Arkansas in a game set to tip off at 4 p.m. at the Farris Center.

ACU senior point guard Jaylen Franklin — who is from Little Rock, Arkansas, just about 40 miles southeastt of Conway — will be playing his final road conference game Saturday in the same place where he played his first Southland Conference road game. The Wildcats beat the Bears, 62-61, on Jan. 2, 20126. Franklin finished with 13 points, three rebounds and two steals in the Wildcats' win.

Saturday's game will also mark the final conference road game for senior forwards Jaren Lewis and Hayden Farquhar, who, along with Franklin, have helped ACU to a 14-21 conference mark over the last four years, including  10-7 the last two seasons. ACU is 11-4 away from Moody Coliseum this season, including 10-4 in true road games.

One of those road wins came Wednesday night when the Wildcats knocked off Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 75-66, at the American Bank Center. Five Wildcats scored in double figures as ACU finished its first season sweep of the Islanders and first win over Corpus in its home arena. Lewis and Franklin each scored 16 points in the win, helping ACU turn a 33-27 halftime deficit into a nine point win.

The Wildcats took charge with a 10-0 run that put ACU up by nine and the Islanders never got closer than six points the rest of the way. Franklin, Payten Ricks and Trey Lenox each had key 3-point shots in the decisive second half.

The Wildcats — who haven't lost back-to-back games this season — have already clinched a spot in the upcoming Southland Conference Postseason Tournament (March 13-16) in Katy. ACU is 22-6 overall and 11-4 in the conference and in sole possession of second place in the Southland, one-half game ahead of New Orleans (11-5 in the league). ACU is also one full game ahead of fourth-place Southeastern Louisiana (10-5) and 1.5 games ahead of fifth-place Lamar (10-6) heading into the final week of the regular season.

The top four teams in the standings at the end of the regular season earn a first-round bye with the top two teams earning a double—bye into the semifinals. A win by ACU on Saturday clinches a first-round bye and would keep the Wildcats alone in second place with two home games left nest week to end the regular season (Tuesday vs. Stephen F. Austin and next Saturday vs. Incarnate Word).