HAMMOND, La. – The Wildcats earned their fourth-straight win at Houston Baptist on Wednesday and will now look for a fifth to clinch a spot in the conference tournament. A win, or a UIW loss, will secure the Wildcats spot in the tournament and ACU can close out the road trip with a perfect 3-0 record. The team continues on their defensive tear as they have held teams under 70 points for four straight games but it is their improved offensive outings that have had them looking like one of the top teams in the conference.
FOLLOW THE GAME
- ACU at SLU: Saturday, Feb. 22 – 4:00 p.m.
YouTube (Live Video),
Sidearm (Live Stats), 98.1 The Ticket with
Grant Boone (Radio Broadcast)
SERIES HISTORY
- The Wildcats trail in the series 4-9, but have won three of their last four meetings.
- In the teams earlier meeting this season ACU put on a defensive clinic, holding the Lions to 55 points while putting up 76 on offense.
- The Lions won eight of the first nine meetings, with most of the games have margins of 12 or fewer points.
- The most notable win for the Wildcats in recent history was at last year's Southland tournament where the team came away with a 69-66 win to secure their spot in the title game.
- In their last meeting,
Joe Pleasant led the way with 12 points but the Wildcats got a balanced offensive effort with six different players scoring seven or more points.
- ACU will be looking for just their second win in Hammond, last season was their first ever win against the Lions on the road.
ACU STORYLINES
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Payten Ricks went unconscious in the game at HBU, putting up 24 points on 9-16 shooting, including going 6-12 from behind the arc. The senior is just eight made threes away from breaking his own school record (DI era) of 81 made threes in a season.
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Joe Pleasant continues to put up solid numbers and has now scored in double figures in eight-straight games.
- Since moving into the starting lineup,
Clay Gayman has average 12.8 points per game while shooting an unreal 78 percent from the floor.
- In their four-straight wins, the team has held all of their opponents under 70 points. The Wildcats are 1-9 in games where they have given up over 70 points, their only win coming at New Orleans in December.
SCOUTING SLU
- The Lions have struggled this season with only six wins on the season and just three conference wins. The team is on a six-game losing streak and their last win came on the road over Northwestern State.
- Ty Brewer continues to lead the Lions in scoring while Pape Diop is the only other player to average double figures for the team.
- The Lions swept the season series over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi with their only other conference win coming over NSU.
- The team is giving up over 77 points per game while allowing opposing teams to shoot 47 percent from the field on the season. This ranks near the bottom of all DI programs.
