ABILENE – Abilene Christian returns home on Saturday for a 5 p.m. contest against Stephen F. Austin in the annual Christmas Slam game.
The Wildcats come in off of an 86-71 loss at UT-Arlington and are 3-4 on the season and 0-1 in the Western Athletic Conference.
Stephen F. Austin is 4-3 overall and 0-1 in the league after a 68-66 home loss at the hands of Tarleton State.
ACU Storylines
WAC at Home: This will be the first home conference game this season for the Wildcats. ACU is 10-8 at home against the WAC in its previous two seasons. The Wildcats defeated Tarleton State in the first WAC game in Moody last season, 69-63. Last year's top three ACU scorers against the WAC are back this season.
Ali Abdou Dibba (11.8),
Immanuel Allen (10.6) and
Airion Simmons (10.3) all averaged double-digits in WAC games last season.
Classic Contest: The last ACU-SFA contest in Moody Coliseum was a double-overtime thriller with Stephen F. Austin winning, 91-87. ACU missed four shots in the final 65 seconds and the 'Jacks held on for the win. SFA got 29 points from AJ Cajuste and 18 points and 10 rebounds from Sadaidriene Hall.
Ali Abdou Dibba led ACU with 21 points,
Immanuel Allen had 12 and
Hunter Jack Madden and
Airion Simmons scored 10 each in that game.
Last Game: ACU lost at Texas-Arlington on Nov. 29 despite rallying from 12 points down in the second half.
Hunter Jack Madden led the Cats with 19 points, seven assists and three steals.
Airion Simmons had 17 points and Ali Dibba finished with 14 points to go with a team-leading seven rebounds.
Hooping it Up: Hunter Jack Madden leads the team with 13.4 points per game. Ali Dibba checks in at 13.1 and
Airion Simmons averages 12.9 points per game. That trio also averages a combined 13.4 rebounds, led by Simmons at 5.0 per game. Madden averages 4.4 rebounds and Dibba 4.0.
Assists in Reserve: Kavion McClain leads the team with 3.4 assists per game and has been coming off of the bench for the last four games. Since moving to a non-starting role, McClain has averaged four assists per game.
Scouting the Jacks
- Sadaidriene Hall, a 6-5 forward, leads the team in scoring and rebounding with 11.9 points and 5.0 rebounds per game.
- SFA is 13th in the NCAA in bench scoring at 34.71 points per game.
- The Jacks lead the WAC with a 38.1 percent shooting average from three-point range. Lattrell Jossell leads the Lumberjacks with 14 three-pointers and is shooting 45.2 percent from the perimeter. Five Lumberjacks are at or above .500 in three-point percentage.
