ABILENE — The Wildcats reopened Moody Coliseum in familiar fashion as their stifling defense led them to an opening night win, 65-56, over Jackson State. Abilene Christian led by 20 points at the half and despite a poor offensive second half, the Wildcat defense kept the Tigers at bay. JSU cut the lead to as few four points late in the second half, but a 7-0 run put the Wildcats back up by 11 and they held on to move to 1-0 to start the year.
Key Plays
- The Wildcats turned defense into offense to start their scoring as Immanuel Allen got the steal and the dish to Airion Simmons for a dunk.
- Back-to-back threes from Tobias Cameron and Allen got the Wildcats out to a five-point lead with 13:31 to play in the first half.
- Cameron hit another three with just over eight and half minutes to play in the first half to give the Wildcats their largest lead of the night so far at eight points.
- Up 26-21 with 4:56 left to play in the first half, the Wildcats opened up a 19-4 scoring run, capped by an Allen three, to hold the 45-25 lead going into the half.
- The Tigers opened the second half with 13-2 run as the Wildcats didn't make their first field goal of the second half until the 10-minute mark.
- JSU would use another small run, 8-2, to cut the defecit to four with 4:36 to play.
- A Tobias Cameron three at the 3:46 mark of the second half gave the Wildcats their first bucket in nearly four minutes.
- Hunter Jack Madden grabbed a defensive rebound and took it the length of the floor for a bucket followed by a steal and score from Cameron to get the Wildcats back up by 11.
Turning Point
Up by only four points with under four minutes to play,
Tobias Cameron hit his fourth three of the night to put ACU back up by seven. That three started a 7-0 run in just over a minute of game action to put the Wildcats up by 11 with two and a half minutes to play.
Stat Pack
- Tobias Cameron matched a career-high with 18 points including going 4-7 from downtown.
- Airion Simmons was also in double figures for the Wildcats scoring 13 points and grabbing five rebounds.
- The Wildcats forced 21 turnovers on the night and tallied a plus-seven turnover margin.
- Ja'Sean Jackson looked solid in his sophomore debut scoring six points and dishing out a team-high four assists.
- While the Tigers shot 40 percent from the floor, ACU held them to just an 11 percent mark form deep.
Player Interview
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Up Next
The Wildcats will head on the road this weekend making the trip to College Station to take on Texas A&M. The two teams met last year in a double-overtime thriller that saw the Wildcats come up just short on a last second bucket by the Aggies. The game is at 7 p.m. and will stream on the SEC Network+.
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