BEAUMONT, Texas — Another dominant win in the books for the Wildcats and it was easily their best road performance of the season. The Cardinals threw the first punch, getting good looks early and converting. They held an 8-2 lead before ACU went on an 8-0 run to take their first lead of the game. The teams went back-and-forth until the seven-minute mark of the first half when the Wildcats began to get some separation. They held an eight-point lead at the half and while the Cardinals cut their lead to as few as five early in the second half, it was all ACU in the second half.
Southland Significance
At 7-1, the Wildcats are just a half a game back of the league-leading Bearkats who sit at 8-1 after a win of their own on Saturday. Sam Houston dealt Nicholls their second conference loss of the season which drops the Colonels to fourth.
Key Plays
- Kolton Kohl went to work early hitting the first two buckets for the Wildcats.
- An offensive rebound by Tobias Cameron led to an open three for Airion Simmons to give ACU a two-point lead, the team never trailed after that point.
- Back-to-back threes from Clay Gayman and Damien Daniels helped the Wildcats to get some separation with just over seven minutes left in the first half.
- After the Cardinals cut the ACU lead to four with two minutes left in the first half, the Wildcats held them scoreless over the final two minutes and pushed their lead back to eight to end the half.
- The Cardinals scored 11 points in the first four minutes of action in the second half and cut the Wildcats lead to five.
- The Wildcats began to force the ball back inside and scored six of their next nine points in the paint.
- Cameron had a huge offensive rebound and putback that gave ACU their largest lead of the night at 19 points with eight and a half left to play.
- Davion Buster cut the Wildcats lead to 10 with just under two minutes to play with a three, but ACU answered with threes from Daniels and Reggie Miller to seal the game.
Turning Point
After the Cardinals cut the lead to five in the second half, the Wildcats went on an 11-3 run and held Lamar with a FG for four minutes. ACU stretched their lead to 14 and never looked back.
Stat Pack
- Damien Daniels went for a new career-high with 13 points on an efficient 5-6 shooting, including going 3-3 from deep.
- Miller continued his tear at the point with five more assists. He is averaging 6.0 assists per game over his last five, including tonight.
- Gayman had another explosive night offensively with 17 points on 6-9 shooting, including going 3-5 from three.
- After struggling to turn UIW over last weekend, the Wildcats forced 19 turnovers with 11 steals and had a plus-10 turnover margin.
- Coryon Mason looked back to form in his second game back from injury. He scored 13 points, had four rebounds, and a steal all off the bench.
- The Wildcats allowed the highest three-point shooting percentage to an opposing team on the season with Lamar going 10-12 (83.3%) from deep.
- ACU hasn't allowed a conference opponent to score 70 or more points since SFA scored 77 last March in Moody Coliseum.
Up Next
The Wildcats continue their road swing as they head to Corpus Christi to face the Islanders on Monday night. It will be the second game of a four-game stretch over eight days. The game is set to tip at 7 p.m.
