Wildcats look to bounce back on the road

ABILENE – Abilene Christian is coming off a tough home loss to a solid Southern Utah squad and looking to bounce back as they face a three-game road stretch ahead. The road in the WAC does not get any easier going forward and their first game of the three-game swing will be against UTRGV where the team had to make an unprecedented comeback to earn a road win a year ago. The Wildcats were down 12 points with 1:59 remaining a year ago but were able to force turnovers late and ultimately an Airion Simmons three secured the win. 

The Vaqueros are 0-4 in WAC play but have played tough in each of their conference contests. The team pushed Southern Utah to overtime on the road and lost by just two points at home to Seattle last weekend. Justin Johnson is the only returning impact player for UTRGV but picked up where he left off last season and is averaging nearly 20 points per game on the year. It will likely be a tough test for ACU, but a big win to kick off the road trip could set the Wildcats up for a win streak in WAC play. 

SERIES HISTORY VS. UTRGV

• ALL-TIME | Third meeting
• LAST MEETING | Feb. 5, 2022 - ACU W 83-66
• STREAK | ACU w2
• IN ABILENE | ACU leads 1-0
• IN EDINBURG | ACU leads 1-0
• NEUTRAL | n/a
• POSTSEASON | n/a

ACU STORYLINES

• FACING THE VAQUEROS | The Wildcats and Vaqueros met twice last season for the first two matchups between the programs. Both games turned out to be historic games in different ways. In the first matchup in Edinburg, the Wildcats did the improbable by coming back from a 12-point deficit in just 1:59 to earn the win and give ACU just their fourth conference win of the season. It also was the second game in a six-game win streak for the team. When the two teams faced off again, just 10 days later in Abilene, Airion Simmons put together one of the best single-game performances by a Wildcat in the DI-era. Simmons dropped 31 points, 14 rebounds, and made 13 field goals. He tied for the second-most points in a game, holds the record for made field goals, and grabbed the fifth-most rebounds, all marks in the DI-era. 
• WILD, WILD WESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE | The major theme through the first weekend of action was home court matters in the WAC. With the new resume seeding system, home wins mean more than ever and through the first 12 games of the conference season only two road teams came away with wins. After the first leg of the second weekend of action though, we had three teams step up and grab wins on the road. NM State has yet to win a conference game, Sam Houston has dropped two of their first three contests, SFA and UVU are unbeaten, and the WAC looks like it is as competitive as ever.
• WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME LATELY? | After a 2-4 start to the year and an 0-3 mark in Las Vegas, the Wildcats have turned it around, going 6-1 in their last seven games. The team's only loss came on the road to a one-loss Kansas State program. ACU has settled in on defense and are looking more balanced on the offensive end with each game played. Immanuel Allen and Tobias Cameron are each averaging double figures and nine players are scoring five or more points per game. The 'Cats seem to be hitting their stride and will look to earn two tough wins out of the gate in conference play.
• BALANCE IS KEY | Once again, Abilene Christian has found success when they are sharing the ball and getting contributions from each player on the court. Eight players are averaging six or more points per game and the team has had 11 different players go for double figures at some point this season. The balance doesn't just apply to scoring though as there are six players averaging three or more rebounds per contest as well. When the Wildcats are at their best they are sharing the ball, the team is averaging 16.5 assists per game which ranks as the 32nd best mark in the country.
• PLEASANT MAKES HIS RETURN TO THE COURT | After his brief season debut in a home game against McMurry, Joe Pleasant saw his role grow during the Las Vegas/Arizona road trip. He saw his minutes increase in Las Vegas and earned his first start of the season at Northern Arizona. He has settled in to his starting role and has shot 50 percent from the field in eight-straight games while scoring in double figures in each of his last three.
• CAMERON CAN DO IT ALL | Tobias Cameron kicked off the season matching a career-high with 18 points in a win over Jackson State and closed non-conference play with another 18-point performance in a win over Howard Payne. Cameron has done a little bit of everything for the Wildcats this season and notched the first double-double of his career in a win over North American. He is shooting 58 percent from the field, leads the team in rebounding, and is second on the team in assists.
• WILDCATS OPEN MOODY WITH A WIN | The Wildcats opened the 22-23 season with a win over Jackson State in the newly renovated Moody Coliseum. In front of a crowd of nearly 2,500 people ACU jumped out to a 20-point halftime lead behind a hot shooting start and a stifling defense. The team had to fend off a furious comeback attempt by the Tigers as the Wildcats struggled to find their offense in the second half, but came away with a 65-56 victory to start the season 1-0.
• DANIELS, CAMERON EARN 100 CAREER WINS | With the team's 93-46 win over North American on November 30, Wildcats' Tobias Cameron and Damien Daniels earned their 100th-career wins in an ACU uniform. The two have been a key part of the Wildcats success over the past four seasons, tallying 20-plus wins in each one.

SCOUTING UTRGV (8-8, 0-4 WAC)

• The Vaqueros are still looking for that first conference win of the season but have played in close contests with Southern Utah on the road and at home against Seattle U, two of the top programs in the WAC this season. 
• UTRGV is top-50 in the country for scoring offense and field-goal percentage but despite scoring over 80 points per game they are giving up nearly 79 points per game ranking 340th in the nation. 
• The team is elite at getting to the free throw line, fourth in the NCAA, but are making their free throws at just a 69 percent clip. 
• Justin Johnson leads the team in scoring at 19.5 points per game and Will Johnston is also scoring in double figures with 16.8 points per game. GCU transfer Dima Zdor is their next leading scorer at 9.6 points per game and is also grabbing 5.8 rebounds per game. 

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