Men's basketball heads 90 miles east to battle Tarleton

GAME #24
Abilene Christian (16-7, 7-5 WAC) at Tarleton (11-13, 6-5 WAC)
Saturday, Feb. 12, 2022  |  7 p.m.  |  Wisdom Gym  |  Stephenville, Texas

STEPHENVILLE, Texas – The ACU men’s basketball team takes it five-game winning streak 90 miles away on Saturday night for a matchup against the Tarleton Texans. The Wildcats (16-7, 7-5 WAC) take on a former familiar foe in Tarleton (11-13, 6-5 WAC) for the second straight year, but just the second time since ACU moved up to Division I. The game will tip at 7 p.m., and the game will air on both ESPN+ and 102.7 The Bear.

ACU STORYLINES

• HIGH FIVE
  • ACU is riding a five-game winning streak, with wins over California Baptist, UTRGV (twice), Lamar, and Chicago State. The 'Cats are averaging 81.8 points per game, shooting 45.7% from the floor, and 32.0 rebounds per game. ACU is averaging just 12 turnovers per game in this stretch, and forcing 21.8 per game.
• WAC STANDING
  • ACU sits in sixth place in the league standings, and are 1.5 games out of fourth place, and just two games out of third. With six games to go before WAC Vegas, there are plenty of opportunities awaiting. The top six get a first-round by, and the top four get an automatic bid to the quarterfinals.
• WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
  • Junior Airion Simmons averaged 20.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game last week en route to being named the WAC Player of the Week. Simmons notched his third double-double of the season against UTRGV, scoring a career-high 31 points and grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds. The Little Rock, Ark. native shot 60.7 percent from the field on the weekend, extended his double-digit scoring streak to five games. Simmons had a career-high three blocks in the win over the Vaqueros, and was the first Wildcat to hit the 30-point mark in nearly seven years. Simmons set a new ACU DI record with 13 made FGs in a game as well.
• LEADERS
  • The Wildcats are led by Coryon Mason's 12.4 points per game, with Simmons' 11.5 PPG and Mahki Morris' 10.3 PPG rounding out the trio in double-figures. Simmons has scored in double digits in five straight games.

SCOUTING TARLETON (11-13, 6-5 WAC)

• Tarleton is tied for 12th with No. 6 Houston among all D1 teams in turnover margin (+4.5) and ranks third in the WAC in turnovers forced per game (16.7).
• Tarleton enters the contest riding its second three-game winning streak of the season. The Texans picked up a road sweep of Lamar and UTRGV on Jan. 26-29 and most recently fended off Chicago State 57-54 on Feb. 5 inside Wisdom Gym.

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