Post-Game Press Conference
KATY, Texas — One win.
That's all that separates the ACU Wildcats from punching their ticket to The Big Dance. Six years ago when the Wildcats began their transition from NCAA Division II membership to NCAA Division I affiliation, the thought was almost preposterous that the Wildcats would ever play in the NCAA Tournament.
But ACU took the first step toward making that a reality Friday night with a 69-66 win over Southeastern Louisiana in the semifinals of the Southland Conference Postseason Tournament. The win sends ACU into Saturday's 8:30 p.m. championship game against #4 seed New Orleans at the Merrell Center. The game will be broadcast on national television (ESPN2) and on the radio on 98.1 FM The Ticket.
UNO upset top-seed Sam Houston State, 79-76, to punch its ticket to the championship game. ACU and New Orleans played just once this season and it was a 68-58 Wildcats' victory on Jan. 2 in Abilene.
The Wildcats got to the championship game thanks to heroic efforts by
Jaren Lewis (17-point, 11-rebound double-double),
Payten Ricks (21 points), freshman
Damien Daniels (12 points and 6 for 6 from the free throw line in the final 40 seconds),
Jaylen Franklin (10 points before fouling out),
Hayden Farquhar (terrific defensive work on Southeastern's first team forward, Moses Greenwood),
Joe Pleasant (six points and a pair of rebounds off the bench),
Tobias Cameron (a huge offensive rebound and tremendous energy in five minutes off the bench,
Kolton Kohl (big offensive rebound and putback in the first half) and
Trey Lenox (drawing a big charge against Greenwood in the second half).
But it was a cold-blooded shot by Ricks that put ACU in front for good, propelling them to within one win of the biggest team moment in ACU Athletics history.
ACU led throughout the game, sometimes by as much as 12 points, and led for much of the second half, despite not having a very good shooting night (20 of 51 from the floor, including just 7 of 23 in the second half). But Southeastern kept fighting, getting to within one at 56-55 with 3:17 to play on a Ty Brewer dunk and then taking a 57-56 lead on two free throws by Von Julien with 2:42 left in the game.
Twenty seconds later, Farquhar scored his only point of the night when he hit the first of two free throws to tie the game at 57-57. But Moses Greenwood -- who was a one-man gang in Southeastern's 75-66 win at ACU on Feb. 23 when he had 27 points and 11 rebounds — gave the Lions a 59-57 lead with a layup at the 2:07 mark.
But ACU answered immediately as Daniels broke the Southeastern press and found Ricks for a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer from the right wing that splashed through to put ACU back in front at 60-59 with 1:59 to play. The 28-foot 3-pointer was from almost the same spot on the floor as the one he buried at the buzzer on Jan. 12 to beat Southeastern, 75-72, in Hammond, Louisiana.
"That was a huge, huge shot," Lions' coach Jay Ladner said. "That might have been the difference in the game."
It was.
"That was just an in-the-moment shot," Ricks said. "My teammates trust me to take those shots. It doesn't matter if I'm 0 for 10, they tell me to let it fly. I had an open look and took the shot, but I give a lot of credit to my teammates because of their confidence in me."
Lewis picked Veal's pocked on the Lions' next possession, and Franklin hit a driving layup that rolled around every inch of the rim before dropping through, giving his team a 62-59 lead with 1:11 to play. Southeastern missed a pair of potential game-tying 3-pointers on its next possession and Ricks came down with the defensive rebound after the second miss and got the ball ahead to Daniels. The freshman from Kansas City, Missouri, calmly went to the free throw line with 42 seconds left and dropped both free throws to give the Wildcats a 64-59 lead.
After a Julien layup cut the ACU lead to 64-61 with 34 seconds left, Franklin broke free and had
Jaren Lewis for a fast-break layup that would have put ACU back up by five points. But Greenwood — playing with four fouls himself — slid under Franklin, drawing a charge that negated the bucket and sent the Wildcats' senior point guard to the bench with his fifth foul with 29 seconds left in the game.
But with 23 seconds left, Julien stepped out of bounds as he drove the baseline, giving the ball back to the Wildcats. Veal fouled Daniels on the inbounds play and the freshman hit two more free throws to make it 66-61 with 17 seconds left in the game.
But it wasn't over.
Veal was fouled by Lenox on a drive to the basket and he hit both free throws to make it a one-possession game (66-63) with 12 seconds left. Ricks was fouled on the ensuing inbounds play and he hit the second of two free throws to extend the lead to 67-63 with 11 seconds left.
Ty Brewer then threw one in from downtown Houston with four seconds to play to cut the ACU led to 67-66 and the Lions burned their last timeout to set up their defense. Daniels was fouled with 1.3 seconds to play and the freshman calmly buried the free throws to put ACU on top 69-66. A last-chance heave by Southeastern fell short, sending the Wildcats to the title game.
Ricks finished with a game-high 21 points, hitting 5 of 10 shots from 3-point range, while Lewis recorded the 16th double-double of his career with those 17 points and 11 rebounds. The rebounds were huge as the Wildcats played the Lions to a draw on the boards (31 rebounds apiece), a big turnaround from the Feb. 23 game in Abilene when the Lions out-rebounded ACU 44-26 and scored 21 second-chance points. Friday night the Lions only had seven second-chance points.
"We knew we had to battle them on the glass," Lewis said. "They killed us in that area the last time we played them, and the coaches talked to us all week that we had to be better there, no matter who we played, but especially if we played Southeastern."
It all added up to a three-point win that sends ACU to a conference tournament championship game in men's basketball for the first time since the Wildcats played West Texas A&M in the 1994 Lone Star Conference Tournament championship game when ACU was an NCAA Division II program. The Wildcats haven't won a men's basketball conference title since the 1986-87 team won the LSC title, and ACU hasn't won a Southland Conference championship since the 1967-68 season.
Now this team is one win away from erasing all of this program's negative history over the last 30 years and earning a spot on the biggest stage in collegiate athletics.
"At the end of the day, we're 40 minutes away from playing in the NCAA Tournament, and four or six years ago, that was a pipe dream for this program," said Golding, who played at ACU and is in his eighth season as the head coach. "But we've still got one to go get and I know New Orleans and I know how good they are and how hard they'll play. But we're excited to be in this position and just have a chance to play for a spot in the tournament."
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