ABILENE — The Wildcats came out with a fiery start on the evening, going a 15-0 run over five minutes of action after falling behind 6-2 early. While UT Arlington found a way to get back in the game, ACU had an answer for each of their runs and held the 36-27 advantage at the half. Abilene Christian then had one of the best shooting halves in program history, shooting at least 80 percent from the field, from three, and from the free throw line, on their way to a dominant 84-68 win at home.
Key Plays
- Airion Simmons hit a three at the 16-minute mark of the first half that kicked off a 15-0 run for the Wildcats.
- Immanuel Allen tallied a steal and passed the ball out ahead to Damien Daniels who converted the transition layup and drew a foul that put the Wildcats up 13 with 8:16 to play in the first half.
- After the Mavericks cut the Wildcat lead to four points, Daniels hit a three off a feed from Simmons to put ACU back in front by seven.
- Ali Dibba drove in for a layup on the Wildcats final play of the first half to put ACU up by nine at the break.
- Back-to-back threes from Hunter Jack Madden and Simmons in the second half that capped a 13-4 run to stretch ACU's lead to 18 points with 15:32 to play.
- Simmons would hit his fourth three of the night while drawing a foul and converted the four-point play to put ACU up 20 points with 9:26 to play.
- Cameron Steele hit his third three of the night with 5:48 to play and gave ACU a 22-point lead.
Stat Pack
- Simmons went off for a season-high 17 points while adding four assists, two rebounds, and a steal.
- Daniels also had a season-high in scoring with 15 points and matched a season-high with seven assists. He also grabbed six boards and tallied a steal.
- The Wildcats shot the lights out in the second half, shooting 80 percent from the field, 87.5 percent from three, and 81.8 percent from the free throw line.
- Tobias Cameron and Cameron Steele each scored in double figures, 10 and 13, respectively.
- ACU dominated the points in the paint, 38-26, and held the advantage in bench scoring, 28-25.
Up Next
The Wildcats have two big games at home next week when they host Grand Canyon on Thursday, Jan. 26, and Utah Tech on Saturday, Jan. 28. The GCU game will tip at 7 p.m. and will be available to stream on ESPN+ and to listen on the ACU Sports Network.
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