ABILENE, Texas — For the third-straight season the Wildcats opened conference play with a win. A slow shooting start, as well as foul trouble, had ACU up just six points at the half but it was all Wildcats after the half. The team opened the second half hot from distance, hitting their first four three-point attempts, and were able to stretch their lead to 16 in just over five minutes of action. The Southland's leading defense was on display as well with the Wildcats tallying 11 steals on the night and scoring 22 points off of turnovers. ACU put together a complete game that displayed what this team has been about all season, defensive intensity and a balanced offensive attack.
Key Plays
- Mahki Morris turned defense into offense with the steal and a layup at the other end to give ACU a 6-5 lead
- A Logan McLaughlin three gave the Wildcats a 14-7 lead and helped get ACU some separation early
- Lamar's Davion Buster hit a big three just before the end of the half to cut the Wildcats lead to just six points
- Coryon Mason and Reggie Miller hit back-to-back threes to open the second half to push the Wildcats lead to 11
- A Damien Daniels steal and dish to Mason gave the Wildcats a double-digit lead that they would not relinquish for the rest of the game
- Up 17 points with five minutes left to play, the Wildcats tallied steals on three-straight Lamar possessions with ACU getting five points from the turnovers to put the game out of reach for the Cardinals.
Turning Point
The Wildcats started the second half hitting their first four three-point attempts. Their stellar offense matched with their typical defense allowed the team to pull away to extend their lead to double-digits and the Cardinals were unable to recover.
Stat Pack
- Mason scored a career-high 21 points, this was just the second time a Wildcat has reached 20 points in a game this season, Pleasant scored 20 points against Hardin-Simmons
- Kohl matched a season-high with 15 points, he also totaled 7 rebounds and four assists
- The Wildcats totaled a season-high 21 assists on 31 made field goals
- ACU dominated bench scoring 31-11 over the Cardinals, this was the fifth-straight game, and eighth time overall, that the bench has scored at least 30 points
- Reggie Miller did a little bit of everything for ACU tallying seven points, four rebounds, four assists, and four steals
- The Wildcats won the rebounding battle 43-32 and totaled 17 offensive rebounds
- ACU held Lamar to just 20 percent shooting from deep and held the combo of Kopp and Buster, who have 30 of the teams 41 made threes, to 2-17 from range
Up Next
ACU heads on the road to face Houston Baptist on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The team will look to earn their first true road win of the season.
