Balanced scoring and dominant defense lead ACU over Tarleton

Saturday, December 5

Abilene

7 P.M.

Abilene Christian

5-0,0-0Southland

Tarleton

1-2,0-0WAC

Tarleton St.

Abilene Christian

Photo by: Meda Bow

Balanced scoring and dominant defense lead ACU over Tarleton

12/5/2020 11:09:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

ABILENE, Texas — The Wildcats are 5-0 after a dominant 69-48 win over the Texans of Tarleton State on Saturday night. ACU used stellar defense and a balanced scoring effort to slowly build their lead throughout the game. Both teams' aggressive style of play led to a number of fouls that kept them at the free throw line and, at times, slowed the pace of the game. Ultimately, it was the unselfish and tireless play of the Wildcats that secured an important win at home.

Key Plays

An early three from Damien Daniels gave the Wildcats a 5-3 lead and the team held the lead for the remainder of the game
Joe Pleasant scored on a driving layup that sparked an 8-0 run to put the Wildcats up by 11 early in the first half
A three from Reggie Miller gave the Wildcats an 11-point lead with just over a minute to play in the first half
Immanuel Allen had a huge dunk early in the second half off a solid feed from Miller that had the bench and Teague Center on their feet
Airion Simmons got a steal and took it down the court for a layup that pushed the Wildcat lead to 16 and put the momentum fully in favor of ACU the rest of the way

Turning Point
The Wildcats held around a 10-point lead for most of the game, but they used a 10-2 run in the second half to separate themselves from the Texans and hold the momentum the rest of the way.

Postgame Interviews

Stat Pack

The Wildcats had their fifth different leading scorer in as many games with Damien Daniels totaling 11 points on the night
ACU started 3-4 from three-point range before struggling the rest of the way and shooting 33 percent from deep
Once again, the team had nine different players score with seven people scoring at least seven points
Reggie Miller continued his defensive dominance tallying four steals on the night
The team had 15 assists on 23 made baskets, Miller led the way with five assists
The Wildcats held a plus-14 turnover margin and outscored the Texans 30-14 in points off turnovers
ACU earned their first win over Tarleton since Feb. 18, 2009, and ended a nine-game losing streak

Up Next
ACU has a tough test ahead of them when they travel to Lubbock to face No. 17 Texas Tech on Wednesday night at 6 p.m.