EDINBURG, Texas — The Wildcats trailed by 12 points with two minutes left to play before mounting an unprecedented comeback, capped by an
Airion Simmons three to take the lead, for the 87-85 win. ACU hit three three's in the final two minutes and forced three UTRGV turnovers to get back in the game. The team forced 27 total turnovers and scored 33 points off of turnovers to move to 13-7 on the year and 4-5 in WAC play.
Key Plays
- Tobias Cameron got the scoring started for the Wildcats with a wing three.
- The Wildcats forced three turnovers on four Vaquero possessions to build their lead to 10 points early.
- Damien Daniels got a steal and fed Mahki Morris on the break to put the Wildcats up nine midway through the first half.
- Coryon Mason gave ACU their largest lead of the game at 13 points with fastbreak layup with five minutes to play in the first.
- The Vaqueros scored the final five points of the first half to cut the ACU lead to five at the break.
- Ja'Sean Jackson converted a three-point play to give the Wildcats a nine-point lead with 14:29 to play.
- UTRGV used a 14-4 run over a four-minute stretch that gave them their first lead of the night with just over nine minutes to play.
The Final Two Minutes
- Justin Johnson went 1-2 at the free throw line to give UTRGV their largest lead at 12 points with 1:59 on the clock.
- Reggie Miller scored his only points on the night after getting fouled on a driving layup and going 2-2 at the line.
- Airion Simmons would get a steal on the next possession and hit the Wildcats first three of the second half to cut the Vaquero lead to seven.
- Damien Daniels would grab a steal on the next UTRGV possession and get fouled at the other end where he went 1-2 at the line.
- Daniels would go back to the line after grabbing an offensive rebound off the Jackson miss and draw another foul where he split the free throws to cut the lead to five.
- RayQuan Taylor hit two free throws for UTRGV to push their lead back to seven with 58 seconds to play.
- Mahki Morris hit a clutch three to get the Wildcats within four with 46 second left on the clock.
- Quinton Johnson II hit two more free throws for the Vaqueros, pushing their lead back to six, but they were the last points of the game for UTRGV.
- Daniels went coast-to-coast for a layup that cut the lead back to four.
- Morris went 1-2 at the free throw line after drawing a loose ball foul on the UTRGV in bounds play and the Wildcats were within three.
- The Vaqueros missed two free throws at the other end before Daniels once again went to the line and made both to make it a one-point game.
- After UTRGV stepped on the baseline while inbounding the ball, the Wildcats had the ball back with 15 seconds to play. Coryon Mason found Simmons at the top of the key for the open three and he drained it with nine seconds left.
Stat Pack
- The Wildcats forced 27 turnovers, but the Vaqueros went over 12 minutes in the second half without turning the ball over. UTRGV had a turnover at the 13:46 mark and did not have another until the 1:41 mark. ACU forced three turnovers in the final two minutes.
- Coryon Mason and Mahki Morris led the Wildcats with 16 points each. Mason added two assists and three steals while Morris added three rebounds and three assists.
- Airion Simmons totaled 11 points on the night as well as eight rebounds, four assists, and two steals.
- Damien Daniels scored 15 points off the bench and had four assists and three steals as well.
- The Wildcats shot just 36 percent from the field in the second half after shooting nearly 50 percent in the first half.
- The team made all three of their second-half threes in the final two minutes of action.
Up Next
ACU will travel to Beaumont to complete their road trip at Lamar. The Cardinals remain winless in conference play and the Wildcats will look to get to .500 in the WAC.
