ABILENE – Abilene Christian opens Western Athletic Conference action on the road on Wednesday, traveling to Texas-Arlington for a 7 p.m. tilt.
The Wildcats are 3-3 on the season after reaching the finals of the Paradise Jam tournament last week.
Texas-Arlington enters at 3-3 after a 73-66 home loss at the hand of Texas State.
ACU Storylines
BIG GAMES IN PARADISE: Airion Simmons had a 25-point game in the finals and
Hunter Jack Madden put together a 22-point game in a win against Fordham. Madden and
Ali Abdou Dibba earned All-Tournament honors.
POSITIVE HISTORY: The Wildcats have taken both games in the conference series, winning 84-68 in Abilene last season after an 80-71 overtime victory in Arlington in the 2021-22 season. When the teams met last season, two current Wildcats reached double figures in scoring.
Airion Simmons had a team-leading 17 points and
Cameron Steele added 13.
COMFORTABLE AWAY: ACU is 6-4 in its last 10 conference openers, including a 3-0 mark when those games are played at home and 3-4 when played on the road. ACU is 1-1 when starting the conference season as a WAC member.
SCORING TRIO: Ali Abdou Dibba leads the Wildcats with 13 points per game with
Hunter Jack Madden (12.5) and
Airion Simmons (12.2) right behind. Madden leads the team in shooting from three-point range at .579 but his 11 three-pointers are short of the minimum needed to qualify as the league leader.
BOARDERS:
Airion Simmons has the team lead with 5.3 rebounds per game and
Hunter Jack Madden is close behind at 5.0. Simmons has a team-best 32 defensive rebounds and Madden leads with eight offensive boards.
THAT D: While turnovers are quite up to the standard the Wildcats have been used to in the
Brette Tanner coaching era, the team has still been playing fine defense. The Cats are limiting opponents to 28.2 percent shooting from the arch, which is the second-best number in the WAC.
SECURITY: The Wildcats are only turning the ball over 11.3 times per game, a mark that is second in the WAC this season.
Scouting UT-Arlington
- The Mavericks had the first two WAC Players of the Week this season with DaJuan Gordon and Shemar Wilson earning the honors back-to-back.
- UTA is 19th nationally with 43 rebounds per game.
- Shemar Wilson leads the Mavericks with 10.5 rebounds per game and DaJuan Gordon averages 9.8.
- Shemar Wilson averages a double-double at 16.7 points and 10.5 rebounds per game. DaJuan Gordon is a near-double-double candidate every game, averaging 9.3 points and 9.8 rebounds.
- Kade Douglas leads the WAC with a 41.9 percent three-point shooting percentage, knocking down 13 of his 31 attempts.
