ABILENE — It came down to the wire in Moody Coliseum on Thursday night as the Wildcats battle with the Lopes of Grand Canyon University. The two teams battled in a back-and-forth affair that saw the Wildcats hold a two-point lead at the half after shooting over 53 percent from the field. The early lead would not stifle the Lopes as they opened the second half on a 7-0 run and pushed their lead to as many as 10 points in the second half.
Airion Simmons and Ali Dibba took on the offensive load as the Wildcats chipped away at the GCU lead to make it a one-possession game late. The Wildcats drove the length of the floor on the final possession where a layup was blocked out of bounds with just under three seconds to play. Simmons got a good look at the basket from three for the win, but the shot was just long as GCU held on for the 75-73 win.
Key Plays
- Ali Dibba hit a three at the top of key for his first three-point make of the season, opening a 7-4 lead over the Lopes.
- Noah Baumann hit a three for GCU to take a 14-13 lead with 11:25 to play in the first half.
- Airion Simmons hit his second three of the night to push the Wildcats ahead 23-19 with just over eight and a half minutes in the first half.
- Hunter Jack Madden hit a three with 2:53 to play in the first half, pushing the Wildcat lead back to five.
- A steal and a bucket from GCU's McMillian cut the ACU lead to two with just under two minutes to play in the first half.
- A three from the Lopes capped a 7-0 run to open the second half forcing an ACU timeout at the 17:44 mark.
- GCU stretched their lead to 10 just a few minutes late on another three to go up 53-43.
- Damien Daniels hit a wing three on a feed from Simmons to cut the GCU lead to five with just under 10 minutes to play.
- Simmons forced a turnover under the GCU basket and found a streaking Dibba for a layup in transition that cut the Lopes lead to one with 4:27 to play.
- Simmons hit a tough bucket in the lane with 21 seconds to play to cut the GCU lead to one. The Lopes went 1-2 from the free throw line on the next possession and the Wildcats came up just short for a chance to win at the buzzer.
Stat Pack
- Dibba led the Wildcats with 18 points, his second-best scoring outing of the season. He went 7-13 from the field and his made three was his first of the season.
- Simmons lit up the stat sheet, dropping 17 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and four steals.
- Joe Pleasant scored 12 points, grabbed six rebounds, and had two steals. He also hit 1,000 career points with his first made basket in the second half.
- The Wildcats force 17 turnovers and had a plus-nine turnover margin but scored just 11 points off turnovers in the game.
- The Lopes had a big advantage at the free throw line, going 19-24 at the charity stripe. The Wildcats made 17 trips to the line but hit just nine of their attempts.
Brette Tanner Postgame
Up Next
ACU will have another game at home this week as they welcome Utah Tech into Moody Coliseum. The Trailblazers are coming off a narrow loss at Tarleton tonight so both teams will come in with a 2-6 WAC record. The game will tip at 6 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN+.
