Wildcats head to Stephenville for Saturday showdown

ABILENE – Abilene Christian men's basketball is coming off a tough loss on the road at UTRGV on Wednesday night, suffering back-to-back losses for the first time since the Las Vegas tournament in November. Despite forcing 26 turnovers, ACU put the Vaqueros on the line 48 times and allowed them to shoot 67 percent from the field. The Wildcats will need to get back to their defensive identity to earn the season sweep over a gritty Tarleton team. 

The Texans are still without their leading scorer, Freddy Hicks, but they took the Wildcats to the wire in Abilene just two weeks ago. Immanuel Allen went off for a career-high 26 points at UTRGV and the team will likely need another standout performance to earn an important road win. The Wildcats' balanced offensive attack gives them an edge against opponents but will need their stout defense to rear its head if they want to stack up wins in a tough WAC slate. 

SERIES HISTORY VS. TARLETON

• ALL-TIME | 85th meeting, Tarleton leads 46-38
• LAST MEETING | ACU 69 - TAR 63 (Dec. 31, 2022 - Abilene)
• STREAK | ACU, w4
• IN ABILENE | Tarleton leads 8-4
• IN STEPHENVILLE | Tarleton leads 8-1
• NEUTRAL | n/a
• POSTSEASON | n/a

ACU STORYLINES

• WILD, WILD WESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE | The WAC continues to prove it is anyone's league as surprises and upsets continue to happen on a nightly basis. Utah Valley and SFA remain atop the league at 5-0 with Seattle U right behind them with a 4-0 record. The biggest surprise of the season is like NM State who sits at 0-5 but will face a fellow winless team, UT Arlington, on Saturday with the loser being the only team without a conference win on the season. Sam Houston dropped to 2-3 in conference play after a road loss to Southern Utah and Grand Canyon pulled out a win over UTA in their first game without Preseason Player of the Year, Jovan Blacksher. The Wildcats have dropped to 1-3 in conference play but has an opportunity to pick up some key wins over the next two weeks. 
• 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 16.6 assists per game which ranks as the 24th best mark in the country.
• ALLEN BREAKING OUT | Immanuel Allen has been a star for the Wildcats this season. He is coming off a career-night with 26 points and 13 made free throws, tying an ACU DI record. He has scored in double figures 12 times on the year and has done so in 10 of the last 11 games. He has set career marks for scoring, blocks, and three's made in a game while matching career marks in rebounds and steals. Allen has been a force on both sides of the ball this season and continues to get better with every game. 
• 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 56 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 TARLETON (9-8, 2-2 WAC)

• The Texans had a bye for WAC play this week but hosted former WAC foe Chicago State on Wednesday night, earning a 73-63 win over the Cougars. 
• In the previous meeting with the Wildcats, Tiger Booker led the team with 19 points off the bench. 
• Jakorie Smith was not available when the Texans played in Abilene but he saw just a couple minutes of action in the win over Chicago State. If he can play significant minutes on Saturday, it will give the Texans a different look than the first meeting. 
• Leading scorer Freddy Hicks continues to be sidelined by a hand injury and it remains to be seen when he will return. 
• Tarleton forces turnovers at a high rate and have force 20-plus in seven games this season. In their last meeting the Texans forced ACU into 16 turnovers. 

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