LAS VEGAS – The ACU men's basketball team earned a hard-fought, come-from-behind victory Wednesday night in the second round of the WAC Tournament, topping the No. 7 seed Utah Valley, 82-74, to advance to Thursday's quarterfinal round. The No. 6 seed Wildcats (21-9) trailed by as many as 10 points midway through the first half, but eventually got their first lead with 12 minutes to play. ACU dominated the second half, outscoring Utah Valley (20-12) 45-33 to win by eight. The defense turned UVU over 21 times, and scored 24 points off turnovers, and combined all that with 11 made three-pointers in the impressive win. ACU swept Utah Valley in the two meetings this season, and now advances to the quarterfinals, where it will face the No. 3 seed SFA on Thursday, March 10.
Turning Point: The second half.
After trailing by 10 points in the first half, ACU closed the gap. The 'Cats trailed 41-33, and scored the final four points of the period to get within four at the break.
Reggie Miller drove in and scored on a layup, and
Mahki Morris got a steal and a breakaway dunk to give ACU all kinds of momentum going to the locker room. That carried over into the second half, as ACU tied it up and eventually took the lead when
Cameron Steele buried a three-pointer to go up 57-56. From that point on, ACU outscored Utah Valley 25-18 to pull away late.
Airion Simmons was the star of the second half, scoring 16 of his game-best 19 points.
Key Plays
- 1st 18:06 | Utah Valley scored the first five of the game, but then Simmons got ACU on the board with a triple.
- 1st 14:17 |
Tobias Cameron cut it down to a five-point deficit, 16-11, with a hook shot in the paint.
- 1st 11:02 | Down 10, Cameron, who was a confident shooter all night long, buried a three to cut it back to seven, 23-16.
- 1st 8:18 | Steele then scored five in a row, including a three-pointer, to cut it all the way to two points, 23-21.
- 2nd 19:23 | Cameron left off where he began in the first half with the first points of the second, buring a triple off a turnover.
- 2nd 18:44 | Morris' three-pointer tied the game at 43, re-setting everything the rest of the way.
- 2nd 13:08 | Simmons got his thing going in the second half, burying a triple to put ACU down one, 54-53.
- 2nd 8:06 | With the game tied at 61, Steele hit yet another one from the outside, this time off a great pass from
Coryon Mason, to put ACU up for good.
- 2nd 4:47 | The lead sprouted to seven when Simmons hit another three. ACU led 73-66, and you could sense victory was iminent.
- 2nd 0:25 |
Damien Daniels hit four clutch free throws down the stretch when Utah Valley was fouling late to make one last run. The senior was as clutch as ever, reminiscent of his freshman season in the Southland Tournament semifinal against Southeastern Louisiana. Daniels finished 4-for-4 at the line.
Stat Pack
- Simmons led ACU with 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting, including four three-pointers, tying his career-high. He added three boards and a pair of assists.
- Cameron matched his career-best with 17 points in 32 minutes played, and hit three from downtown, finishing 6-of-10 shooting.
- Steele came off the bench and tallied 13 points on 5-of-7 from the floor, including matching a career-best with three triples.
- Morris was ACU's fourth in double-figures with 11, and despite fouling out of the game, added a career-high six helpers to go with a pair of steals.
- Miller dropped nine, had three boards, and took the ball away four times.
- Mason dropped six points, and was in foul trouble most of the night.
- Daniels added six, and was huge at the foul line, and added two steals. Daniels now has 12 straight games with multiple steals.
- ACU turned Utah Valley over 21 times, and scored 24 points off them. The Wildcats scored 16 points off turnovers in the second half.
- The 'Cats, despite being the much shorter team, outscored UVU 32-26 in the paint.
- ACU shot 51% from the floor, and hit 11 three's, shooting 52% from distance. Wednesday night marked ACU's highest shooting percentage from behind the arc this season.
- ACU earned its second win of the season when trailing at the break; the team is now 2-9 for the year when down at halftime.
Up Next
- The No. 6 seed Wildcats will face the No. 3 seed SFA in the quarterfinal round on Thursday, March 10 at The Orleans Arena. Tip-off is scheduled once again for 10:30 p.m. CT (8:30 p.m. PT). The game will air on ESPN+ and 102.7 The Bear. It is the first-ever post-season matchup against the longtime rival Lumberjacks.
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